Time variant data profile for a fabric network

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for exchanging a data stream of information that varies over time using a message format. The message format includes a version field that indicates a version of a structure of the message format. The message format also includes one or more resources fields that each identifies a resource to be imported into the data stream exchanging the data stream. Moreover, the message format includes one or more records that represent time-variant data samples being exchanged in the message. Furthermore, the message format includes one or more descriptor fields, wherein each descriptor field corresponds to at least one respective record of the one or more records and contains metadata describing data contained within the at least one record.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No.62/061,593, filed Oct. 8, 2014, entitled “FABRIC NETWORK,” which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates data communication profiles for systems,devices, methods, and related computer program products for smartbuildings, such as a smart home. This disclosure relates to a fabricnetwork that couples electronic devices using one or more network typesand a time variant data profile used to determine chronology of eventsof multiple devices in the home.

Some homes today are equipped with smart home networks to provideautomated control of devices, appliances and systems, such as heating,ventilation, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) systems, lighting systems,alarm systems, and home theater and entertainment systems. Smart homenetworks may include control panels that a person may use to inputsettings, preferences, and scheduling information that the smart homenetwork uses to provide automated control the various devices,appliances and systems in the home. For example, a person may input adesired temperature and a schedule indicating when the person is awayfrom home.

These networks may include various devices that are sleepy and/or haveintermittent connection between each other. The data stored in each ofthese devices may then not be chronologically accurate if only usingclock times of the devices while the devices are awake. Furthermore, itmay be unclear how entries in data from different devices relate to eachother in time when events between all the devices may not be linearlyrecorded.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects ofart that may be related to various aspects of the present techniques,which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed tobe helpful in providing the reader with background information tofacilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the presentdisclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statementsare to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.

SUMMARY

A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. Itshould be understood that these aspects are presented merely to providethe reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and thatthese aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure.Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may notbe set forth below.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods afabric network that includes one or more logical networks that enablesdevices connected to the fabric to communicate with each other using alist of protocols and/or profiles known to the devices. Thecommunications between the devices may follow a typical message formatthat enables the devices to understand communications between thedevices regardless of which logical networks the communicating devicesare connected to in the fabric. Within the message format, a payload ofdata may be included for the receiving device to store and/or process.The format and the contents of the payload may vary according to aheader (e.g., profile tag) within the payload that indicates a specificprofile (including one or more protocols) and/or a type ofmessage/action that is being sent according to the profile.

According to some embodiments, two or more devices in a fabric maycommunicate using various profiles. For example, in certain embodiments,a data management profile, a network provisioning profile, or a coreprofile (including status reporting protocols) that are available todevices connected to the fabric. Also, a time-variant data profile maybe used for reporting and exchanging time-variant historical data amongendpoints within a smart network. In some embodiments, at least aportion of the role of any device in the smart network is to observe andrecord the environment of which the device is a part. This observationand reporting is done over time and reporting those time-varianthistorical observations to other endpoints in the smart network. Thetime-variant data profile defines a set of constants and messages forexchanging these time-variant historical observations atop the bulk datatransfer protocol. In some embodiments, this profile has an identifiedprofile identifier that indicates that a communication includes data inthe time-variant data profile.

Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation tovarious aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also beincorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements andadditional features may exist individually or in any combination. Forinstance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more ofthe illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of theabove-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in anycombination. The brief summary presented above is intended only tofamiliarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodimentsof the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subjectmatter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon readingthe following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device having that may beinterconnected with other devices using a fabric network, in accordancewith an embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a home environment in which thegeneral device of FIG. 1 may communicate with other devices via thefabric network, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an Open Systems Interconnection(OSI) model that characterizes a communication system for the homeenvironment of FIG. 2, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates the fabric network having a single logical networktopology, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates the fabric network having a star network topology, inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates the fabric network having an overlapping networkstopology, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates a service communicating with one or more fabricnetworks, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates two devices in a fabric network in communicativeconnection, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 9 illustrates a unique local address format (ULA) that may be usedto address devices in a fabric network, in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates a process for proxying periphery devices on a hubnetwork, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 11 illustrates a tag-length-value (TLV) packet that may be used totransmit data over the fabric network, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 12 illustrates a general message protocol (GMP) that may be used totransmit data over the fabric network that may include the TLV packet ofFIG. 11, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 13 illustrates a message header field of the GMP of FIG. 12, inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 14 illustrates a key identifier field of the GMP of FIG. 12, inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 15 illustrates an application payload field of the GMP of FIG. 12,in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 16 illustrates a profile library that includes various profilesthat may be used in the application payload field of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 illustrates a status reporting schema that may be used to updatestatus information in the fabric network, in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 18 illustrates a profile field of the status reporting schema ofFIG. 17, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 19 illustrates a protocol sequence that may be used to perform asoftware update between a client and a server, in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 20 illustrates an image query frame that may be used in theprotocol sequence of FIG. 19, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 21 illustrates a frame control field of the image query frame ofFIG. 20, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 22 illustrates a product specification field of the image queryframe of FIG. 20, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 23 illustrates a version specification field of the image queryframe of FIG. 20, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 24 illustrates a locale specification field of the image queryframe of FIG. 20, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 25 illustrates an integrity types supported field of the imagequery frame of FIG. 20, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 26 illustrates an update schemes supported field of the image queryframe of FIG. 20, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 27 illustrates an image query response frame that may be used inthe protocol sequence of FIG. 19, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 28 illustrates a uniform resource identifier (URI) field of theimage query response frame of FIG. 27, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 29 illustrates a integrity specification field of the image queryresponse frame of FIG. 27, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 30 illustrates an update scheme field of the image query responseframe of FIG. 27, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 31 illustrates a communicative connection between a sender and areceiver in a bulk data transfer, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 32 illustrates a SendInit message that may be used to initiate thecommunicative connection by the sender of FIG. 31, in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 33 illustrates a transfer control field of the SendInit message ofFIG. 32, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 34 illustrates a range control field of the SendInit message ofFIG. 33, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 35 illustrates a SendAccept message that may be used to accept acommunicative connection proposed by the SendInit message of FIG. 32sent by the sender of FIG. 32, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 36 illustrates a SendReject message that may be used to reject acommunicative connection proposed by the SendInit message of FIG. 32sent by the sender of FIG. 32, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 37 illustrates a ReceiveAccept message that may be used to accept acommunicative connection proposed by the receiver of FIG. 32, inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 38 illustrates a streams structure of the used by a time variantdata profile, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 39 illustrates an External Descriptor structure that is an array ofDescriptor elements, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 40 illustrates a descriptor structure of the streams structure ofFIG. 38, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 41 illustrates a derivation structure of the descriptor structureof FIG. 40, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 42 illustrates a field structure of the descriptor structure ofFIG. 40, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 43 illustrates a units structure of the field structure of FIG. 39,in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 44 illustrates a time period structure of the descriptor structureof FIG. 40, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 45 illustrates a time base structure of the descriptor structure ofFIG. 40, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 46 illustrates a stream substructure of the streams structure ofFIG. 38, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 47 illustrates a flexible data arrangement of data that may be sentusing the time variant data profile, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 48 illustrates another flexible data arrangement of data that maybe sent using the time variant data profile, in accordance with anembodiment; and

FIG. 49 illustrates a flow diagram of a process that may be used togenerate encapsulated data samples for time variant data, in accordancewith an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed below. These described embodiments are only examples of thepresently disclosed techniques. Additionally, in an effort to provide aconcise description of these embodiments, features of an actualimplementation may not be described in the specification. It should beappreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation,as in any engineering or design project, numerousimplementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve thedevelopers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related andbusiness-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation toanother. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a developmenteffort might be complex and time consuming, but may nevertheless be aroutine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those ofordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.

When introducing elements of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean thatthere are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,”“including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean thatthere may be additional elements other than the listed elements.Additionally, it should be understood that references to “oneembodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are notintended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additionalembodiments that also incorporate the recited features.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to an efficientfabric network that may be used by devices and/or services communicatingwith each other in a home environment. Generally, consumers living inhomes may find it useful to coordinate the operations of various deviceswithin their home such that of their devices are operated efficiently.For example, a thermostat device may be used to detect a temperature ofa home and coordinate the activity of other devices (e.g., lights) basedon the detected temperature. In this example, the thermostat device maydetect a temperature that may indicate that the temperature outside thehome corresponds to daylight hours. The thermostat device may thenconvey to the light device that there may be daylight available to thehome and that thus the light should turn off.

In addition to operating these devices efficiently, consumers generallyprefer to use user-friendly devices that involve a minimum amount of setup or initialization. That is, consumers may generally prefer topurchase devices that are fully operational after performing a fewnumber initialization steps that may be performed by almost anyindividual regardless of age or technical expertise.

With the foregoing in mind, to enable to effectively communicate databetween each other within the home environment, the devices may use afabric network that includes one or more logical networks to managecommunication between the devices. That is, the efficient fabric networkmay enable numerous devices within a home to communicate with each otherusing one or more logical networks. The communication network maysupport Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) communications such that eachconnected device may have a unique local address (LA). Moreover, toenable each device to integrate with a home, it may be useful for eachdevice to communicate within the network using low amounts of power.That is, by enabling devices to communicate using low power, the devicesmay be placed anywhere in a home without being coupled to a continuouspower source (e.g., battery-powered).

I. Fabric Introduction

By way of introduction, FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a generaldevice 10 that may that may communicate with other like devices within ahome environment. In one embodiment, the device 10 may include one ormore sensors 12, a user-interface component 14, a power supply 16 (e.g.,including a power connection and/or battery), a network interface 18, aprocessor 20, and the like. Particular sensors 12, user-interfacecomponents 14, and power-supply configurations may be the same orsimilar with each devices 10. However, it should be noted that in someembodiments, each device 10 may include particular sensors 12,user-interface components 14, power-supply configurations, and the likebased on a device type or model.

The sensors 12, in certain embodiments, may detect various propertiessuch as acceleration, temperature, humidity, water, supplied power,proximity, external motion, device motion, sound signals, ultrasoundsignals, light signals, fire, smoke, carbon monoxide,global-positioning-satellite (GPS) signals, radio-frequency (RF), otherelectromagnetic signals or fields, or the like. As such, the sensors 12may include temperature sensor(s), humidity sensor(s), hazard-relatedsensor(s) or other environmental sensor(s), accelerometer(s),microphone(s), optical sensors up to and including camera(s) (e.g.,charged coupled-device or video cameras), active or passive radiationsensors, GPS receiver(s) or radiofrequency identification detector(s).While FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment with a single sensor, manyembodiments may include multiple sensors. In some instances, the device10 may includes one or more primary sensors and one or more secondarysensors. Here, the primary sensor(s) may sense data central to the coreoperation of the device (e.g., sensing a temperature in a thermostat orsensing smoke in a smoke detector), while the secondary sensor(s) maysense other types of data (e.g., motion, light or sound), which can beused for energy-efficiency objectives or smart-operation objectives.

One or more user-interface components 14 in the device 10 may receiveinput from the user and/or present information to the user. Theuser-interface component 14 may also include one or more user-inputcomponents that may receive information from the user. The receivedinput may be used to determine a setting. In certain embodiments, theuser-input components may include a mechanical or virtual component thatresponds to the user's motion. For example, the user can mechanicallymove a sliding component (e.g., along a vertical or horizontal track) orrotate a rotatable ring (e.g., along a circular track), the user'smotion along a touchpad may be detected, or motions/gestures may bedetected using a contactless gesture detection sensor (e.g., infraredsensor or camera). Such motions may correspond to a setting adjustment,which can be determined based on an absolute position of auser-interface component 104 or based on a displacement of auser-interface components 104 (e.g., adjusting a setpoint temperature by1 degree F. for every 10° rotation of a rotatable-ring component).Physically and virtually movable user-input components can allow a userto set a setting along a portion of an apparent continuum. Thus, theuser may not be confined to choose between two discrete options (e.g.,as would be the case if up and down buttons were used) but can quicklyand intuitively define a setting along a range of possible settingvalues. For example, a magnitude of a movement of a user-input componentmay be associated with a magnitude of a setting adjustment, such that auser may dramatically alter a setting with a large movement or finelytune a setting with s small movement.

The user-interface components 14 may also include one or more buttons(e.g., up and down buttons), a keypad, a number pad, a switch, amicrophone, and/or a camera (e.g., to detect gestures). In oneembodiment, the user-input component 14 may include a click-and-rotateannular ring component that may enable the user to interact with thecomponent by rotating the ring (e.g., to adjust a setting) and/or byclicking the ring inwards (e.g., to select an adjusted setting or toselect an option). In another embodiment, the user-input component 14may include a camera that may detect gestures (e.g., to indicate that apower or alarm state of a device is to be changed). In some instances,the device 10 may have one primary input component, which may be used toset various types of settings. The user-interface components 14 may alsobe configured to present information to a user via, e.g., a visualdisplay (e.g., a thin-film-transistor display or organiclight-emitting-diode display) and/or an audio speaker.

The power-supply component 16 may include a power connection and/or alocal battery. For example, the power connection may connect the device10 to a power source such as a line voltage source. In some instances,an AC power source can be used to repeatedly charge a (e.g.,rechargeable) local battery, such that the battery may be used later tosupply power to the device 10 when the AC power source is not available.In certain embodiments, the power supply component 16 may includeintermittent or reduced power connections that may be less than thatprovided via an AC plug in the home. In certain embodiments, deviceswith batteries and/or intermittent or reduced power may be operated as“sleepy devices” that alternate between an online/awake state and anoffline/sleep state to reduce power consumption.

The network interface 18 may include one or more components that enablethe device 10 to communicate between devices using one or more logicalnetworks within the fabric network. In one embodiment, the networkinterface 18 may communicate using an efficient network layer as part ofits Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. In certain embodiments,one component of the network interface 18 may communicate with onelogical network (e.g., WiFi) and another component of the networkinterface may communicate with another logical network (e.g., 802.15.4).In other words, the network interface 18 may enable the device 10 towirelessly communicate via multiple IPv6 networks. As such, the networkinterface 18 may include a wireless card, Ethernet port, and/or othersuitable transceiver connections.

The processor 20 may support one or more of a variety of differentdevice functionalities. As such, the processor 20 may include one ormore processors configured and programmed to carry out and/or cause tobe carried out one or more of the functionalities described herein. Inone embodiment, the processor 20 may include general-purpose processorscarrying out computer code stored in local memory (e.g., flash memory,hard drive, random access memory), special-purpose processors orapplication-specific integrated circuits, other types ofhardware/firmware/software processing platforms, and/or some combinationthereof. Further, the processor 20 may be implemented as localizedversions or counterparts of algorithms carried out or governed remotelyby central servers or cloud-based systems, such as by virtue of runninga Java virtual machine (JVM) that executes instructions provided from acloud server using Asynchronous Javascript and XML (AJAX) or similarprotocols. By way of example, the processor 20 may detect when alocation (e.g., a house or room) is occupied, up to and includingwhether it is occupied by a specific person or is occupied by a specificnumber of people (e.g., relative to one or more thresholds). In oneembodiment, this detection can occur, e.g., by analyzing microphonesignals, detecting user movements (e.g., in front of a device),detecting openings and closings of doors or garage doors, detectingwireless signals, detecting an IP address of a received signal,detecting operation of one or more devices within a time window, or thelike. Moreover, the processor 20 may include image recognitiontechnology to identify particular occupants or objects.

In some instances, the processor 20 may predict desirable settingsand/or implement those settings. For example, based on presencedetection, the processor 20 may adjust device settings to, e.g.,conserve power when nobody is home or in a particular room or to accordwith user preferences (e.g., general at-home preferences oruser-specific preferences). As another example, based on the detectionof a particular person, animal or object (e.g., a child, pet or lostobject), the processor 20 may initiate an audio or visual indicator ofwhere the person, animal or object is or may initiate an alarm orsecurity feature if an unrecognized person is detected under certainconditions (e.g., at night or when lights are off).

In some instances, devices may interact with each other such that eventsdetected by a first device influences actions of a second device usingone or more common profiles between the devices. For example, a firstdevice can detect that a user has pulled into a garage (e.g., bydetecting motion in the garage, detecting a change in light in thegarage or detecting opening of the garage door). The first device cantransmit this information to a second device via the fabric network,such that the second device can, e.g., adjust a home temperaturesetting, a light setting, a music setting, and/or a security-alarmsetting. As another example, a first device can detect a userapproaching a front door (e.g., by detecting motion or sudden lightpattern changes). The first device may cause a general audio or visualsignal to be presented (e.g., such as sounding of a doorbell) or cause alocation-specific audio or visual signal to be presented (e.g., toannounce the visitor's presence within a room that a user is occupying).

With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a homeenvironment 30 in which the device 10 of FIG. 1 may communicate withother devices via the fabric network. The depicted home environment 30may include a structure 32 such as a house, office building, garage, ormobile home. It will be appreciated that devices can also be integratedinto a home environment that does not include an entire structure 32,such as an apartment, condominium, office space, or the like. Further,the home environment 30 may control and/or be coupled to devices outsideof the actual structure 32. Indeed, several devices in the homeenvironment 30 need not physically be within the structure 32 at all.For example, a device controlling a pool heater 34 or irrigation system36 may be located outside of the structure 32.

The depicted structure 32 includes multiple rooms 38, separated at leastpartly from each other via walls 40. The walls 40 can include interiorwalls or exterior walls. Each room 38 can further include a floor 42 anda ceiling 44. Devices can be mounted on, integrated with and/orsupported by the wall 40, the floor 42, or the ceiling 44.

The home environment 30 may include multiple devices, includingintelligent, multi-sensing, network-connected devices that may integrateseamlessly with each other and/or with cloud-based server systems toprovide any of a variety of useful home objectives. One, more or each ofthe devices illustrated in the home environment 30 may include one ormore sensors 12, a user interface 14, a power supply 16, a networkinterface 18, a processor 20 and the like.

Example devices 10 may include a network-connected thermostat 46 thatmay detect ambient climate characteristics (e.g., temperature and/orhumidity) and control a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC)system 48. Another example device 10 may include a hazard detection unit50 that can detect the presence of a hazardous substance and/or ahazardous condition in the home environment 30 (e.g., smoke, fire, orcarbon monoxide). Additionally, entryway interface devices 52, which canbe termed a “smart doorbell”, can detect a person's approach to ordeparture from a location, control audible functionality, announce aperson's approach or departure via audio or visual means, or controlsettings on a security system (e.g., to activate or deactivate thesecurity system).

In certain embodiments, the device 10 may include a light switch 54 thatmay detect ambient lighting conditions, detect room-occupancy states,and control a power and/or dim state of one or more lights. In someinstances, the light switches 54 may control a power state or speed of afan, such as a ceiling fan.

Additionally, wall plug interfaces 56 may detect occupancy of a room orenclosure and control supply of power to one or more wall plugs (e.g.,such that power is not supplied to the plug if nobody is at home). Thedevice 10 within the home environment 30 may further include anappliance 58, such as refrigerators, stoves and/or ovens, televisions,washers, dryers, lights (inside and/or outside the structure 32),stereos, intercom systems, garage-door openers, floor fans, ceilingfans, whole-house fans, wall air conditioners, pool heaters 34,irrigation systems 36, security systems, and so forth. Whiledescriptions of FIG. 2 may identify specific sensors and functionalitiesassociated with specific devices, it will be appreciated that any of avariety of sensors and functionalities (such as those describedthroughout the specification) may be integrated into the device 10.

In addition to containing processing and sensing capabilities, each ofthe example devices described above may be capable of datacommunications and information sharing with any other device, as well asto any cloud server or any other device that is network-connectedanywhere in the world. In one embodiment, the devices 10 may send andreceive communications via a fabric network discussed below. In oneembodiment, fabric may enable the devices 10 to communicate with eachother via one or more logical networks. As such, certain devices mayserve as wireless repeaters and/or may function as bridges betweendevices, services, and/or logical networks in the home environment thatmay not be directly connected (i.e., one hop) to each other.

In one embodiment, a wireless router 60 may further communicate with thedevices 10 in the home environment 30 via one or more logical networks(e.g., WiFi). The wireless router 60 may then communicate with theInternet 62 or other network such that each device 10 may communicatewith a remote service or a cloud-computing system 64 through theInternet 62. The cloud-computing system 64 may be associated with amanufacturer, support entity or service provider associated with aparticular device 10. As such, in one embodiment, a user may contactcustomer support using a device itself rather than using some othercommunication means such as a telephone or Internet-connected computer.Further, software updates can be automatically sent from thecloud-computing system 64 or devices in the home environment 30 to otherdevices in the fabric (e.g., when available, when purchased, whenrequested, or at routine intervals).

By virtue of network connectivity, one or more of the devices 10 mayfurther allow a user to interact with the device even if the user is notproximate to the device. For example, a user may communicate with adevice using a computer (e.g., a desktop computer, laptop computer, ortablet) or other portable electronic device (e.g., a smartphone) 66. Awebpage or application may receive communications from the user andcontrol the device 10 based on the received communications. Moreover,the webpage or application may present information about the device'soperation to the user. For example, the user can view a current setpointtemperature for a device and adjust it using a computer that may beconnected to the Internet 62. In this example, the thermostat 46 mayreceive the current setpoint temperature view request via the fabricnetwork via one or more underlying logical networks.

In certain embodiments, the home environment 30 may also include avariety of non-communicating legacy appliances 68, such as oldconventional washer/dryers, refrigerators, and the like which can becontrolled, albeit coarsely (ON/OFF), by virtue of the wall pluginterfaces 56. The home environment 30 may further include a variety ofpartially communicating legacy appliances 70, such as infra-red (IR)controlled wall air conditioners or other IR-controlled devices, whichcan be controlled by IR signals provided by the hazard detection units50 or the light switches 54.

As mentioned above, each of the example devices 10 described above mayform a portion of a fabric network. Generally, the fabric network may bepart of an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model 90 as depicted inFIG. 4. The OSI model 90 illustrates functions of a communication systemwith respect to abstraction layers. That is, the OSI model may specify anetworking framework or how communications between devices may beimplemented. In one embodiment, the OSI model may include six layers: aphysical layer 92, a data link layer 94, a network layer 96, a transportlayer 98, a platform layer 100, and an application layer 102. Generally,each layer in the OSI model 90 may serve the layer above it and may beserved by the layer below it.

Keeping this in mind, the physical layer 92 may provide hardwarespecifications for devices that may communicate with each other. Assuch, the physical layer 92 may establish how devices may connect toeach other, assist in managing how communication resources may be sharedbetween devices, and the like.

The data link layer 94 may specify how data may be transferred betweendevices. Generally, the data link layer 94 may provide a way in whichdata packets being transmitted may be encoded and decoded into bits aspart of a transmission protocol.

The network layer 96 may specify how the data being transferred to adestination node is routed. The network layer 96 may also provide asecurity protocol that may maintain the integrity of the data beingtransferred. The efficient network layer discussed above corresponds tothe network layer 96. In certain embodiments, the network layer 96 maybe completely independent of the platform layer 100 and include anysuitable IPv6 network type (e.g., WiFi, Ethernet, HomePlug, 802.15.4,etc).

The transport layer 98 may specify a transparent transfer of the datafrom a source node to a destination node. The transport layer 98 mayalso control how the transparent transfer of the data remains reliable.As such, the transport layer 98 may be used to verify that data packetsintended to transfer to the destination node indeed reached thedestination node. Example protocols that may be employed in thetransport layer 98 may include Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) andUser Datagram Protocol (UDP).

The platform layer 100 includes the fabric network and establishesconnections between devices according to the protocol specified withinthe transport layer 98 and may be agnostic of the network type used inthe network layer 96. The platform layer 100 may also translate the datapackets into a form that the application layer 102 may use. Theapplication layer 102 may support a software application that maydirectly interface with the user. As such, the application layer 102 mayimplement protocols defined by the software application. For example,the software application may provide serves such as file transfers,electronic mail, and the like.

II. Fabric Device Interconnection

As discussed above, a fabric may be implemented using one or moresuitable communications protocols, such as IPv6 protocols. In fact, thefabric may be partially or completely agnostic to the underlyingtechnologies (e.g., network types or communication protocols) used toimplement the fabric. Within the one or more communications protocols,the fabric may be implemented using one or more network types used tocommunicatively couple electrical devices using wireless or wiredconnections. For example, certain embodiments of the fabric may includeEthernet, WiFi, 802.15.4, ZigBee®, ISA100.11a, WirelessHART, MiWi™,power-line networks, and/or other suitable network types. Within thefabric devices (e.g., nodes) can exchange packets of information withother devices (e.g., nodes) in the fabric, either directly or viaintermediary nodes, such as intelligent thermostats, acting as IProuters. These nodes may include manufacturer devices (e.g., thermostatsand smoke detectors) and/or customer devices (e.g., phones, tablets,computers, etc.). Additionally, some devices may be “always on” andcontinuously powered using electrical connections. Other devices mayhave partially reduced power usage (e.g., medium duty cycle) using areduced/intermittent power connection, such as a thermostat or doorbellpower connection. Finally, some devices may have a short duty cycle andrun solely on battery power. In other words, in certain embodiments, thefabric may include heterogeneous devices that may be connected to one ormore sub-networks according to connection type and/or desired powerusage. FIGS. 4-6 illustrate three embodiments that may be used toconnect electrical devices via one or more sub-networks in the fabric.

A. Single Network Topology

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the fabric 1000 having a singlenetwork topology. As illustrated, the fabric 1000 includes a singlelogical network 1002. The network 1002 could include Ethernet, WiFi,802.15.4, power-line networks, and/or other suitable network types inthe IPv6 protocols. In fact, in some embodiments where the network 1002includes a WiFi or Ethernet network, the network 1002 may span multipleWiFi and/or Ethernet segments that are bridged at a link layer.

The network 1002 includes one or more nodes 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010,1012, 1014, and 1016, referred to collectively as 1004-1016. Althoughthe illustrated network 1002 includes seven nodes, certain embodimentsof the network 1002 may include one or more nodes interconnected usingthe network 1002. Moreover, if the network 1002 is a WiFi network, eachof the nodes 1004-1016 may be interconnected using the node 1016 (e.g.,WiFi router) and/or paired with other nodes using WiFi Direct (i.e.,WiFi P2P).

B. Star Network Topology

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment of fabric 1000 as a fabric1018 having a star network topology. The fabric 1018 includes a hubnetwork 1020 that joins together two periphery networks 1022 and 1024.The hub network 1020 may include a home network, such as WiFi/Ethernetnetwork or power line network. The periphery networks 1022 and 1024 mayadditional network connection types different of different types thanthe hub network 1020. For example, in some embodiments, the hub network1020 may be a WiFi/Ethernet network, the periphery network 1022 mayinclude an 802.15.4 network, and the periphery network 1024 may includea power line network, a ZigBee® network, a ISA100.11a network, aWirelessHART, network, or a MiWi™ network. Moreover, although theillustrated embodiment of the fabric 1018 includes three networks,certain embodiments of the fabric 1018 may include any number ofnetworks, such as 2, 3, 4, 5, or more networks. In fact, someembodiments of the fabric 1018 include multiple periphery networks ofthe same type.

Although the illustrated fabric 1018 includes fourteen nodes, eachreferred to individually by reference numbers 1024-1052, respectively,it should be understood that the fabric 1018 may include any number ofnodes. Communication within each network 1020, 1022, or 1024, may occurdirectly between devices and/or through an access point, such as node1042 in a WiFi/Ethernet network. Communications between peripherynetwork 1022 and 1024 passes through the hub network 1020 usinginter-network routing nodes. For example, in the illustrated embodiment,nodes 1034 and 1036 are be connected to the periphery network 1022 usinga first network connection type (e.g., 802.15.4) and to the hub network1020 using a second network connection type (e.g., WiFi) while the node1044 is connected to the hub network 1020 using the second networkconnection type and to the periphery network 1024 using a third networkconnection type (e.g., power line). For example, a message sent fromnode 1026 to node 1052 may pass through nodes 1028, 1030, 1032, 1036,1042, 1044, 1048, and 1050 in transit to node 1052.

C. Overlapping Networks Topology

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the fabric 1000 as afabric 1054 having an overlapping networks topology. The fabric 1054includes networks 1056 and 1058. As illustrated, each of the nodes 1062,1064, 1066, 1068, 1070, and 1072 may be connected to each of thenetworks. In other embodiments, the node 1072 may include an accesspoint for an Ethernet/WiFi network rather than an end point and may notbe present on either the network 1056 or network 1058, whichever is notthe Ethernet/WiFi network. Accordingly, a communication from node 1062to node 1068 may be passed through network 1056, network 1058, or somecombination thereof. In the illustrated embodiment, each node cancommunicate with any other node via any network using any networkdesired. Accordingly, unlike the star network topology of FIG. 5, theoverlapping networks topology may communicate directly between nodes viaany network without using inter-network routing.

D. Fabric Network Connection to Services

In addition to communications between devices within the home, a fabric(e.g., fabric 1000) may include services that may be located physicallynear other devices in the fabric or physically remote from such devices.The fabric connects to these services through one or more service endpoints. FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a service 1074 communicatingwith fabrics 1076, 1078, and 1080. The service 1074 may include variousservices that may be used by devices in fabrics 1076, 1078, and/or 1080.For example, in some embodiments, the service 1074 may be a time of dayservice that supplies a time of day to devices, a weather service toprovide various weather data (e.g., outside temperature, sunset, windinformation, weather forecast, etc.), an echo service that “pings” eachdevice, data management services, device management services, and/orother suitable services. As illustrated, the service 1074 may include aserver 1082 (e.g., web server) that stores/accesses relevant data andpasses the information through a service end point 1084 to one or moreend points 1086 in a fabric, such as fabric 1076. Although theillustrated embodiment only includes three fabrics with a single server1082, it should be appreciated that the service 1074 may connect to anynumber of fabrics and may include servers in addition to the server 1082and/or connections to additional services.

In certain embodiments, the service 1074 may also connect to a consumerdevice 1088, such as a phone, tablet, and/or computer. The consumerdevice 1088 may be used to connect to the service 1074 via a fabric,such as fabric 1076, an Internet connection, and/or some other suitableconnection method. The consumer device 1088 may be used to access datafrom one or more end points (e.g., electronic devices) in a fabriceither directly through the fabric or via the service 1074. In otherwords, using the service 1074, the consumer device 1088 may be used toaccess/manage devices in a fabric remotely from the fabric.

E. Communication Between Devices in a Fabric

As discussed above, each electronic device or node may communicate withany other node in the fabric, either directly or indirectly dependingupon fabric topology and network connection types. Additionally, somedevices (e.g., remote devices) may communicate through a service tocommunicate with other devices in the fabric. FIG. 8 illustrates anembodiment of a communication 1090 between two devices 1092 and 1094.The communication 1090 may span one or more networks either directly orindirectly through additional devices and/or services, as describedabove. Additionally, the communication 1090 may occur over anappropriate communication protocol, such as IPv6, using one or moretransport protocols. For example, in some embodiments the communication1090 may include using the transmission control protocol (TCP) and/orthe user datagram protocol (UDP). In some embodiments, the device 1092may transmit a first signal 1096 to the device 1094 using aconnectionless protocol (e.g., UDP). In certain embodiments, the device1092 may communicate with the device 1094 using a connection-orientedprotocol (e.g., TCP). Although the illustrated communication 1090 isdepicted as a bi-directional connection, in some embodiments, thecommunication 1090 may be a uni-directional broadcast.

i. Unique Local Address

As discussed above, data transmitted within a fabric received by a nodemay be redirected or passed through the node to another node dependingon the desired target for the communication. In some embodiments, thetransmission of the data may be intended to be broadcast to all devices.In such embodiments, the data may be retransmitted without furtherprocessing to determine whether the data should be passed along toanother node. However, some data may be directed to a specific endpoint.To enable addressed messages to be transmitted to desired endpoints,nodes may be assigned identification information.

Each node may be assigned a set of link-local addresses (LLA), oneassigned to each network interface. These LLAs may be used tocommunicate with other nodes on the same network. Additionally, the LLAsmay be used for various communication procedures, such as IPv6 NeighborDiscovery Protocol. In addition to LLAs, each node is assigned a uniquelocal address (ULA).

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a unique local address (ULA) 1098that may be used to address each node in the fabric. In certainembodiments, the ULA 1098 may be formatted as an IPv6 address formatcontaining 128 bits divided into a global ID 1100, a subnet ID 1102, andan interface ID 1104. The global ID 1100 includes 40 bits and the subnetID 1102 includes 16 bits. The global ID 1100 and subnet ID 1102 togetherform a fabric ID 1103 for the fabric.

The fabric ID 1103 is a unique 64-bit identifier used to identify afabric. The fabric ID 1103 may be generated at creation of theassociated fabric using a pseudo-random algorithm. For example, thepseudo-random algorithm may 1) obtain the current time of day in 64-bitNTP format, 2) obtain the interface ID 1104 for the device, 3)concatenate the time of day with the interface ID 1104 to create a key,4) compute and SHA-1 digest on the key resulting in 160 bits, 5) use theleast significant 40 bits as the global ID 1100, and 6) concatenate theULA and set the least significant bit to 1 to create the fabric ID 1103.In certain embodiments, once the fabric ID 1103 is created with thefabric, the fabric ID 1103 remains until the fabric is dissolved.

The global ID 1100 identifies the fabric to which the node belongs. Thesubnet ID 1102 identifies logical networks within the fabric. The subnetID 1102 may be assigned monotonically starting at one with the additionof each new logical network to the fabric. For example, a WiFi networkmay be identified with a hex value of 0x01, and a later connected802.15.4 network may be identified with a hex value of 0x02 continuingon incrementally upon the connection of each new network to the fabric.

Finally, the ULA 1098 includes an interface ID 1104 that includes 64bits. The interface ID 1104 may be assigned using a globally-unique64-bit identifier according to the IEEE EUI-64 standard. For example,devices with IEEE 802 network interfaces may derive the interface ID1104 using a burned-in MAC address for the devices “primary interface.”In some embodiments, the designation of which interface is the primaryinterface may be determined arbitrarily. In other embodiments, aninterface type (e.g., WiFi) may be deemed the primary interface, whenpresent. If the MAC address for the primary interface of a device is 48bits rather than 64-bit, the 48-bit MAC address may be converted to aEUI-64 value via encapsulation (e.g., organizationally unique identifierencapsulating). In consumer devices (e.g., phones or computers), theinterface ID 1104 may be assigned by the consumer devices' localoperating systems.

ii. Routing Transmissions Between Logical Networks

As discussed above in relation to a star network topology, inter-networkrouting may occur in communication between two devices across logicalnetworks. In some embodiments, inter-network routing is based on thesubnet ID 1102. Each inter-networking node (e.g., node 1034 of FIG. 5)may maintain a list of other routing nodes (e.g., node B 14 of FIG. 5)on the hub network 1020 and their respective attached periphery networks(e.g., periphery network 1024 of FIG. 5). When a packet arrivesaddressed to a node other than the routing node itself, the destinationaddress (e.g., address for node 1052 of FIG. 5) is compared to the listof network prefixes and a routing node (e.g., node 1044) is selectedthat is attached to the desired network (e.g., periphery network 1024).The packet is then forwarded to the selected routing node. If multiplenodes (e.g., 1034 and 1036) are attached to the same periphery network,routing nodes are selected in an alternating fashion.

Additionally, inter-network routing nodes may regularly transmitNeighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP) router advertisement messages on thehub network to alert consumer devices to the existence of the hubnetwork and allow them to acquire the subnet prefix. The routeradvertisements may include one or more route information options toassist in routing information in the fabric. For example, these routeinformation options may inform consumer devices of the existence of theperiphery networks and how to route packets the periphery networks.

In addition to, or in place of route information options, routing nodesmay act as proxies to provide a connection between consumer devices anddevices in periphery networks, such as the process 1105 as illustratedin FIG. 10. As illustrated, the process 1105 includes each peripherynetwork device being assigned a virtual address on the hub network bycombining the subnet ID 1102 with the interface ID 1104 for the deviceon the periphery network (block 1106). To proxy using the virtualaddresses, routing nodes maintain a list of all periphery nodes in thefabric that are directly reachable via one of its interfaces (block1108). The routing nodes listen on the hub network for neighborsolicitation messages requesting the link address of a periphery nodeusing its virtual address (block 1110). Upon receiving such a message,the routing node attempts to assign the virtual address to its hubinterface after a period of time (block 1112). As part of theassignment, the routing node performs duplicate address detection so asto block proxying of the virtual address by more than one routing node.After the assignment, the routing node responds to the neighborsolicitation message and receives the packet (block 1114). Uponreceiving the packet, the routing node rewrites the destination addressto be the real address of the periphery node (block 1116) and forwardsthe message to the appropriate interface (block 1118).

iii. Consumer Devices Connecting to a Fabric

To join a fabric, a consumer device may discover an address of a nodealready in the fabric that the consumer device wants to join.Additionally, if the consumer device has been disconnected from a fabricfor an extended period of time may need to rediscover nodes on thenetwork if the fabric topology/layout has changed. To aid indiscovery/rediscovery, fabric devices on the hub network may publishDomain Name System-Service Discovery (DNS-SD) records via mDNS thatadvertise the presence of the fabric and provide addresses to theconsumer device

III. Data Transmitted in the Fabric

After creation of a fabric and address creation for the nodes, data maybe transmitted through the fabric. Data passed through the fabric may bearranged in a format common to all messages and/or common to specifictypes of conversations in the fabric. In some embodiments, the messageformat may enable one-to-one mapping to JavaScript Object Notation(JSON) using a TLV serialization format discussed below. Additionally,although the following data frames are described as including specificsizes, it should be noted that lengths of the data fields in the dataframes may be varied to other suitable bit-lengths.

It should be understood that each of the following data frames,profiles, and/or formats discussed below may be stored in memory (e.g.,memory of the device 10) prior to and/or after transmission of amessage. In other words, although the data frame, profiles, and formatsmay be generally discussed as transmissions of data, they may also bephysically stored (e.g., in a buffer) before, during, and/or aftertransmission of the data frame, profiles, and/or formats. Moreover, thefollowing data frames, profiles, schemas, and/or formats may be storedon a non-transitory, computer-readable medium that allows an electronicdevice to access the data frames, profiles, schemas, and/or formats. Forexample, instructions for formatting the data frames, profiles, schemas,and/or formats may be stored in any suitable computer-readable medium,such as in memory for the device 10, memory of another device, aportable memory device (e.g., compact disc, flash drive, etc.), or othersuitable physical device suitable for storing the data frames, profiles,schemas, and/or formats.

A. Security

Along with data intended to be transferred, the fabric may transfer thedata with additional security measures such as encryption, messageintegrity checks, and digital signatures. In some embodiments, a levelof security supported for a device may vary according to physicalsecurity of the device and/or capabilities of the device. In certainembodiments, messages sent between nodes in the fabric may be encryptedusing the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) block cipher operating incounter mode (AES-CTR) with a 128-bit key. As discussed below, eachmessage contains a 32-bit message id. The message id may be combinedwith a sending nodes id to form a nonce for the AES-CTR algorithm. The32-bit counter enables 4 billion messages to be encrypted and sent byeach node before a new key is negotiated.

In some embodiments, the fabric may insure message integrity using amessage authentication code, such as HMAC-SHA-1, that may be included ineach encrypted message. In some embodiments, the message authenticationcode may be generated using a 160-bit message integrity key that ispaired one-to-one with the encryption key. Additionally, each node maycheck the message id of incoming messages against a list of recentlyreceived ids maintained on a node-by-node basis to block replay of themessages.

B. Tag Length Value (TLV) Formatting

To reduce power consumption, it is desirable to send at least a portionof the data sent over the fabric that compactly while enabling the datacontainers to flexibly represents data that accommodates skipping datathat is not recognized or understood by skipping to the next location ofdata that is understood within a serialization of the data. In certainembodiments, tag-length-value (TLV) formatting may be used to compactlyand flexibly encode/decode data. By storing at least a portion of thetransmitted data in TLV, the data may be compactly and flexiblystored/sent along with low encode/decode and memory overhead, asdiscussed below in reference to Table 7. In certain embodiments, TLV maybe used for some data as flexible, extensible data, but other portionsof data that is not extensible may be stored and sent in an understoodstandard protocol data unit (PDU).

Data formatted in a TLV format may be encoded as TLV elements of varioustypes, such as primitive types and container types. Primitive typesinclude data values in certain formats, such as integers or strings. Forexample, the TLV format may encode: 1, 2, 3, 4, or 8 bytesigned/unsigned integers, UTF-8 strings, byte strings,single/double-precision floating numbers (e.g., IEEE 754-1985 format),boolean, null, and other suitable data format types. Container typesinclude collections of elements that are then sub-classified ascontainer or primitive types. Container types may be classified intovarious categories, such as dictionaries, arrays, paths or othersuitable types for grouping TLV elements, known as members. A dictionaryis a collection of members each having distinct definitions and uniquetags within the dictionary. An array is an ordered collection of memberswith implied definitions or no distinct definitions. A path is anordered collection of members that described how to traverse a tree ofTLV elements.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, an embodiment of a TLV packet 1120 includesthree data fields: a tag field 1122, a length field 1124, and a valuefield 1126. Although the illustrated fields 1122, 1124, and 1126 areillustrated as approximately equivalent in size, the size of each fieldmay be variable and vary in size in relation to each other. In otherembodiments, the TLV packet 1120 may further include a control bytebefore the tag field 1122.

In embodiments having the control byte, the control byte may besub-divided into an element type field and a tag control field. In someembodiments, the element type field includes 5 lower bits of the controlbyte and the tag control field occupies the upper 3 bits. The elementtype field indicates the TLV element's type as well as the how thelength field 1124 and value field 1126 are encoded. In certainembodiments, the element type field also encodes Boolean values and/ornull values for the TLV. For example, an embodiment of an enumeration ofelement type field is provided in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Example element type field values. 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0Signed Integer, 1 byte value 0 0 0 0 1 Signed Integer, 2 byte value 0 00 1 0 Signed Integer, 4 byte value 0 0 0 1 1 Signed Integer, 8 bytevalue 0 0 1 0 0 Unsigned Integer, 1 byte value 0 0 1 0 1 UnsignedInteger, 2 byte value 0 0 1 1 0 Unsigned Integer, 4 byte value 0 0 1 1 1Unsigned Integer, 8 byte value 0 1 0 0 0 Boolean False 0 1 0 0 1 BooleanTrue 0 1 0 1 0 Floating Point Number, 4 byte value 0 1 0 1 1 FloatingPoint Number, 8 byte value 0 1 1 0 0 UTF8-String, 1 byte length 0 1 1 01 UTF8-String, 2 byte length 0 1 1 1 0 UTF8-String, 4 byte length 0 1 11 1 UTF8-String, 8 byte length 1 0 0 0 0 Byte String, 1 byte length 1 00 0 1 Byte String, 2 byte length 1 0 0 1 0 Byte String, 4 byte length 10 0 1 1 Byte String, 8 byte length 1 0 1 0 0 Null 1 0 1 0 1 Dictionary 10 1 1 0 Array 1 0 1 1 1 Path 1 1 0 0 0 End of ContainerThe tag control field indicates a form of the tag in the tag field 1122assigned to the TLV element (including a zero-length tag). Examples, oftag control field values are provided in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 Example values for tag control field. 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 0Anonymous, 0 bytes 0 0 1 Context-specific Tag, 1 byte 0 1 0 Core ProfileTag, 2 bytes 0 1 1 Core Profile Tag, 4 bytes 1 0 0 Implicit Profile Tag,2 bytes 1 0 1 Implicit Profile Tag, 4 bytes 1 1 0 Fully-qualified Tag, 6bytes 1 1 1 Fully-qualified Tag, 8 bytesIn other words, in embodiments having a control byte, the control bytemay indicate a length of the tag.

In certain embodiments, the tag field 1122 may include zero to eightbytes, such as eight, sixteen, thirty two, or sixty four bits. In someembodiments, the tag of the tag field may be classified asprofile-specific tags or context-specific tags. Profile-specific tagsidentify elements globally using a vendor Id, a profile Id, and/or tagnumber as discussed below. Context-specific tags identify TLV elementswithin a context of a containing dictionary element and may include asingle-byte tag number. Since context-specific tags are defined incontext of their containers, a single context-specific tag may havedifferent interpretations when included in different containers. In someembodiments, the context may also be derived from nested containers.

In embodiments having the control byte, the tag length is encoded in thetag control field and the tag field 1122 includes a possible threefields: a vendor Id field, a profile Id field, and a tag number field.In the fully-qualified form, the encoded tag field 1122 includes allthree fields with the tag number field including 16 or 32 bitsdetermined by the tag control field. In the implicit form, the tagincludes only the tag number, and the vendor Id and profile number areinferred from the protocol context of the TLV element. The core profileform includes profile-specific tags, as discussed above.Context-specific tags are encoded as a single byte conveying the tagnumber. Anonymous elements have zero-length tag fields 1122.

In some embodiments without a control byte, two bits may indicate alength of the tag field 1122, two bits may indicate a length of thelength field 1124, and four bits may indicate a type of informationstored in the value field 1126. An example of possible encoding for theupper 8 bits for the tag field is illustrated below in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Tag field of a TLV packet Byte 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Description 0 0— — — — — — Tag is 8 bits 0 1 — — — — — — Tag is 16 bits 1 0 — — — — — —Tag is 32 bits 1 1 — — — — — — Tag is 64 bits — — 0 0 — — — — Length is8 bits — — 0 1 — — — — Length is 16 bits — — 1 0 — — — — Length is 32bits — — 1 1 — — — — Length is 64 bits — — 0 0 0 0 Boolean — — 0 0 0 1Fixed 8-bit Unsigned — — 0 0 1 0 Fixed 8-bit Signed — — 0 0 1 1 Fixed16-bit Unsigned — — 0 1 0 0 Fixed 16-bit Signed — — 0 1 0 1 Fixed 32-bitUnsigned — — 0 1 1 0 Fixed 32-bit Signed — — 0 1 1 1 Fixed 64-bitUnsigned — — 1 0 0 0 Fixed 64-bit Signed — — 1 0 0 1 32-bit FloatingPoint — — 1 0 1 0 64-bit Floating Point — — 1 0 1 1 UTF-8 String — — 1 10 0 Opaque Data — — 1 1 0 1 ContainerAs illustrated in Table 3, the upper 8 bits of the tag field 1122 may beused to encode information about the tag field 1122, length field 1124,and the value field 1126, such that the tag field 112 may be used todetermine length for the tag field 122 and the length fields 1124.Remaining bits in the tag field 1122 may be made available foruser-allocated and/or user-assigned tag values.

The length field 1124 may include eight, sixteen, thirty two, or sixtyfour bits as indicated by the tag field 1122 as illustrated in Table 3or the element field as illustrated in Table 2. Moreover, the lengthfield 1124 may include an unsigned integer that represents a length ofthe encoded in the value field 1126. In some embodiments, the length maybe selected by a device sending the TLV element. The value field 1126includes the payload data to be decoded, but interpretation of the valuefield 1126 may depend upon the tag length fields, and/or control byte.For example, a TLV packet without a control byte including an 8 bit tagis illustrated in Table 4 below for illustration.

TABLE 4 Example of a TLV packet including an 8-bit tag Tag Length ValueDescription 0x0d 0x24 0x09 0x04 0x42 95 00 00 74.5 0x09 0x04 0x42 98 6666 76.2 0x09 0x04 0x42 94 99 9a 74.3 0x09 0x04 0x42 98 99 9a 76.3 0x090x04 0x42 95 33 33 74.6 0x09 0x04 0x42 98 33 33 76.1As illustrated in Table 4, the first line indicates that the tag field1122 and the length field 1124 each have a length of 8 bits.Additionally, the tag field 1122 indicates that the tag type is for thefirst line is a container (e.g., the TLV packet). The tag field 1124 forlines two through six indicate that each entry in the TLV packet has atag field 1122 and length field 1124 consisting of 8 bits each.Additionally, the tag field 1124 indicates that each entry in the TLVpacket has a value field 1126 that includes a 32-bit floating point.Each entry in the value field 1126 corresponds to a floating number thatmay be decoded using the corresponding tag field 1122 and length field1124 information. As illustrated in this example, each entry in thevalue field 1126 corresponds to a temperature in Fahrenheit. As can beunderstood, by storing data in a TLV packet as described above, data maybe transferred compactly while remaining flexible for varying lengthsand information as may be used by different devices in the fabric.Moreover, in some embodiments, multi-byte integer fields may betransmitted in little-endian order or big-endian order.

By transmitting TLV packets in using an order protocol (e.g.,little-endian) that may be used by sending/receiving device formats(e.g., JSON), data transferred between nodes may be transmitted in theorder protocol used by at least one of the nodes (e.g., little endian).For example, if one or more nodes include ARM or ix86 processors,transmissions between the nodes may be transmitted using little-endianbyte ordering to reduce the use of byte reordering. By reducing theinclusion of byte reordering, the TLV format enable devices tocommunicate using less power than a transmission that uses bytereordering on both ends of the transmission. Furthermore, TLV formattingmay be specified to provide a one-to-one translation between other datastorage techniques, such as JSON+ Extensible Markup Language (XML). Asan example, the TLV format may be used to represent the following XMLProperty List:

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC “-//AppleComputer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN”“http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd”> <plist version=“1.0”><dict>  <key>OfflineMode</key>  <false/>  <key>Network</key>  <dict>  <key>IPv4</key>   <dict>    <key>Method</key>    <string>dhcp</string>  </dict>   <key>IPv6</key>   <dict>    <key>Method</key>   <string>auto</string>   </dict>  </dict>  <key>Technologies</key> <dict>   <key>wifi</key>   <dict>    <key>Enabled</key>    <true/>   <key>Devices</key>    <dict>     <key>wifi_18b4300008b027</key>    <dict>     <key>Enabled</key>     <true/>    </dict>    </dict>   <key>Services</key>    <array>    <string>wifi_18b4300008b027_3939382d33204 16    c70696e652054657272616365</string>    </array>   </dict>   <key>802.15.4</key>   <dict>   <key>Enabled</key>    <true/>    <key>Devices</key>    <dict>   <key>802.15.4_18b43000000002fac4</key>    <dict>    <key>Enabled</key>     <true/>    </dict>    </dict>   <key>Services</key>    <array>   <string>802.15.4_18b43000000002fac4_3 939382d332041   6c70696e6520546572</string>    </array>   </dict>  </dict> <key>Services</key>  <dict> <key>wifi_18b4300008b027_3939382d3320416c70696e6520546572 72616365</key>   <dict>    <key>Name</key>    <string>998-3 AlpineTerrace</string>    <key>SSID</key>   <data>3939382d3320416c70696e652054657272616365    </data>   <key>Frequency</key>    <integer>2462</integer>   <key>AutoConnect</key>    <true/>    <key>Favorite</key>    <true/>   <key>Error</key>    <string/>    <key>Network</key>    <dict>   <key>IPv4</key>    <dict>     <key>DHCP</key>     <dict>     <key>LastAddress</key>      <data>0a02001e</data>     </dict>   </dict>    <key>IPv6</key>    <dict/>    </dict>   </dict>  <key>802.15.4_18b43000000002fac4_3939382d3320416c70696e  6520546572</key>   <dict>    <key>Name</key>    <string>998-3 AlpineTer</string>    <key>EPANID</key>   <data>3939382d3320416c70696e6520546572</data>    <key>Frequency</key>   <integer>2412</integer>    <key>AutoConnect</key>    <true/>   <key>Favorite</key>    <true/>    <key>Error</key>    <string/>   <key>Network</key>    <dict/>   </dict>  </dict> </dict> </plistAs an example, the above property list may be represented in tags of theabove described TLV format (without a control byte) according to Table 5below.

TABLE 5 Example representation of the XML Property List in TLV formatXML Key Tag Type Tag Number OfflineMode Boolean 1 IPv4 Container 3 IPv6Container 4 Method String 5 Technologies Container 6 WiFi Container 7802.15.4 Container 8 Enabled Boolean 9 Devices Container 10 ID String 11Services Container 12 Name String 13 SSID Data 14 EPANID Data 15Frequency 16-bit Unsigned 16 AutoConnect Boolean 17 Favorite Boolean 18Error String 19 DHCP String 20 LastAddress Data 21 Device Container 22Service Container 23Similarly, Table 6 illustrates an example of literal tag, length, andvalue representations for the example XML Property List.

TABLE 6 Example of literal values for tag, length, and value fields forXML Property List Tag Length Value Description 0x40 01 0x01 0OfflineMode 0x4d 02 0x14 Network 0x4d 03 0x07 Network.IPv4 0x4b 05 0x04“dhcp” Network.IPv4.Method 0x4d 04 0x07 Network.IPv6 0x4b 05 0x04 “auto”Network.IPv6.Method 0x4d 06 0xd6 Technologies 0x4d 07 0x65Technologies.wifi 0x40 09 0x01 1 Technologies.wifi.Enabled 0x4d 0a 0x5eTechnologies.wifi.Devices 0x4d 16 0x5bTechnologies.wifi.Devices.Device.[0] 0x4b 0b 0x13 “wifi_18b43 . . . ”Technologies.wifi.Devices.Device.[0].ID 0x40 09 0x01 1Technologies.wifi.Devices.Device.[0].Enabled 0x4d 0c 0x3eTechnologies.wifi.Devices.Device.[0].Services 0x0b 0x3c “wifi_18b43 . .. ” Technologies.wifi.Devices.Device.[0].Services.[0] 0x4d 08 0x6bTechnologies.802.15.4 0x40 09 0x01 1 Technologies.802.15.4.Enabled 0x4d0a 0x64 Technologies.802.15.4.Devices 0x4d 16 0x61Technologies.802.15.4.Devices.Device.[0] 0x4b 0b 0x1a “802.15.4_18 . . .” Technologies.802.15.4.Devices.Device.[0].ID 0x40 09 0x01 1Technologies.802.15.4.Devices.Device.[0].Enabled 0x4d 0c 0x3dTechnologies.802.15.4.Devices.Device.[0].Services 0x0b 0x3b “802.15.4_18. . . ” Technologies.802.15.4.Devices.Device.[0].Services.[0] 0x4d 0c0xcb Services 0x4d 17 0x75 Services.Service.[0] 0x4b 0b 0x13 “wifi_18b43. . . ” Services.Service.[0].ID 0x4b 0d 0x14 “998-3 Alp . . . ”Services.Service.[0].Name 0x4c 0f 0x28 3939382d . . .Services.Service.[0].SSID 0x45 10 0x02 2462  Services.Service.[0].Frequency 0x40 11 0x01 1Services.Service.[0].AutoConnect 0x40 12 0x01 1Services.Service.[0].Favorite 0x4d 02 0x0d Services.Service.[0].Network0x4d 03 0x0a Services.Service.[0].Network.IPv4 0x4d 14 0x07Services.Service.[0].Network.IPv4.DHCP 0x45 15 0x04 0x0a02001eServices.Service.[0].Network.IPv4.LastAddress 0x4d 17 0x50Services.Service.[1] 0x4b 0b 0x1a “802.15.4_18 . . . ”Services.Service.[1].ID 0x4c 0d 0x10 “998-3 Alp . . . ”Services.Service.[1].Name 0x4c 0f 0x10 3939382d . . .Services.Service.[1].EPANID 0x45 10 0x02 2412  Services.Service.[1].Frequency 0x40 11 0x01 1Services.Service.[1].AutoConnect 0x40 12 0x01 1Services.Service.[1].FavoriteThe TLV format enables reference of properties that may also beenumerated with XML, but does so with a smaller storage size. Forexample, Table 7 illustrates a comparison of data sizes of the XMLProperty List, a corresponding binary property list, and the TLV format.

TABLE 7 Comparison of the sizes of property list data sizes. List TypeSize in Bytes Percentage of XML Size XML 2,199 — Binary 730 −66.8% TLV450 −79.5%By reducing the amount of data used to transfer data, the TLV formatenables the fabric 1000 transfer data to and/or from devices havingshort duty cycles due to limited power (e.g., battery supplied devices).In other words, the TLV format allows flexibility of transmission whileincreasing compactness of the data to be transmitted.

C. General Message Protocol

In addition to sending particular entries of varying sizes, data may betransmitted within the fabric using a general message protocol that mayincorporate TLV formatting. An embodiment of a general message protocol(GMP) 1128 is illustrated in FIG. 12. In certain embodiments, thegeneral message protocol (GMP) 1128 may be used to transmit data withinthe fabric. The GMP 1128 may be used to transmit data via connectionlessprotocols (e.g., UDP) and/or connection-oriented protocols (e.g., TCP).Accordingly, the GMP 1128 may flexibly accommodate information that isused in one protocol while ignoring such information when using anotherprotocol. Moreover, the GMP 1226 may enable omission of fields that arenot used in a specific transmission. Data that may be omitted from oneor more GMP 1226 transfers is generally indicated using grey bordersaround the data units. In some embodiments, the multi-byte integerfields may be transmitted in a little-endian order or a big-endianorder.

i. Packet Length

In some embodiments, the GMP 1128 may include a Packet Length field1130. In some embodiments, the Packet Length field 1130 includes 2bytes. A value in the Packet Length field 1130 corresponds to anunsigned integer indicating an overall length of the message in bytes,excluding the Packet Length field 1130 itself. The Packet Length field1130 may be present when the GMP 1128 is transmitted over a TCPconnection, but when the GMP 1128 is transmitted over a UDP connection,the message length may be equal to the payload length of the underlyingUDP packet obviating the Packet Length field 1130.

ii. Message Header

The GMP 1128 may also include a Message Header 1132 regardless ofwhether the GMP 1128 is transmitted using TCP or UDP connections. Insome embodiments, the Message Header 1132 includes two bytes of dataarranged in the format illustrated in FIG. 13. As illustrated in FIG.13, the Message Header 1132 includes a Version field 1156. The Versionfield 1156 corresponds to a version of the GMP 1128 that is used toencode the message. Accordingly, as the GMP 1128 is updated, newversions of the GMP 1128 may be created, but each device in a fabric maybe able to receive a data packet in any version of GMP 1128 known to thedevice. In addition to the Version field 1156, the Message Header 1132may include an S Flag field 1158 and a D Flag 1160. The S Flag 1158 is asingle bit that indicates whether a Source Node Id (discussed below)field is included in the transmitted packet. Similarly, the D Flag 1160is a single bit that indicates whether a Destination Node Id (discussedbelow) field is included in the transmitted packet.

The Message Header 1132 also includes an Encryption Type field 1162. TheEncryption Type field 1162 includes four bits that specify which type ofencryption/integrity checking applied to the message, if any. Forexample, 0x0 may indicate that no encryption or message integritychecking is included, but a decimal 0x1 may indicate that AES-128-CTRencryption with HMAC-SHA-1 message integrity checking is included.

Finally, the Message Header 1132 further includes a Signature Type field1164. The Signature Type field 1164 includes four bits that specifywhich type of digital signature is applied to the message, if any. Forexample, 0x0 may indicate that no digital signature is included in themessage, but 0x1 may indicate that the Elliptical Curve DigitalSignature Algorithm (ECDSA) with Prime256v1 elliptical curve parametersis included in the message.

iii. Message Id

Returning to FIG. 12, the GMP 1128 also includes a Message Id field 1134that may be included in a transmitted message regardless of whether themessage is sent using TCP or UDP. The Message Id field 1134 includesfour bytes that correspond to an unsigned integer value that uniquelyidentifies the message from the perspective of the sending node. In someembodiments, nodes may assign increasing Message Id 1134 values to eachmessage that they send returning to zero after reaching 2³² messages.

iv. Source Node Id

In certain embodiments, the GMP 1128 may also include a Source Node Idfield 1136 that includes eight bytes. As discussed above, the SourceNode Id field 1136 may be present in a message when the single-bit SFlag 1158 in the Message Header 1132 is set to 1. In some embodiments,the Source Node Id field 1136 may contain the Interface ID 1104 of theULA 1098 or the entire ULA 1098. In some embodiments, the bytes of theSource Node Id field 1136 are transmitted in an ascending index-valueorder (e.g., EUI[0] then EUI[1] then EUI[2] then EUI[3], etc.).

v. Destination Node Id

The GMP 1128 may include a Destination Node Id field 1138 that includeseight bytes. The Destination Node Id field 1138 is similar to the SourceNode Id field 1136, but the Destination Node Id field 1138 correspondsto a destination node for the message. The Destination Node Id field1138 may be present in a message when the single-bit D Flag 1160 in theMessage Header 1132 is set to 1. Also similar to the Source Node Idfield 1136, in some embodiments, bytes of the Destination Node Id field1138 may be transmitted in an ascending index-value order (e.g., EUI[0]then EUI[1] then EUI[2] then EUI[3], etc.).

vi. Key Id

In some embodiments, the GMP 1128 may include a Key Id field 1140. Incertain embodiments, the Key Id field 1140 includes two bytes. The KeyId field 1140 includes an unsigned integer value that identifies theencryption/message integrity keys used to encrypt the message. Thepresence of the Key Id field 1140 may be determined by the value ofEncryption Type field 1162 of the Message Header 1132. For example, insome embodiments, when the value for the Encryption Type field 1162 ofthe Message Header 1132 is 0x0, the Key Id field 1140 may be omittedfrom the message.

An embodiment of the Key Id field 1140 is presented in FIG. 14. In theillustrated embodiment, the Key Id field 1140 includes a Key Type field1166 and a Key Number field 1168. In some embodiments, the Key Typefield 1166 includes four bits. The Key Type field 1166 corresponds to anunsigned integer value that identifies a type of encryption/messageintegrity used to encrypt the message. For example, in some embodiments,if the Key Type field 1166 is 0x0, the fabric key is shared by all ormost of the nodes in the fabric. However, if the Key Type field 1166 is0x1, the fabric key is shared by a pair of nodes in the fabric.

The Key Id field 1140 also includes a Key Number field 1168 thatincludes twelve bits that correspond to an unsigned integer value thatidentifies a particular key used to encrypt the message out of a set ofavailable keys, either shared or fabric keys.

vii. Payload Length

In some embodiments, the GMP 1128 may include a Payload Length field1142. The Payload Length field 1142, when present, may include twobytes. The Payload Length field 1142 corresponds to an unsigned integervalue that indicates a size in bytes of the Application Payload field.The Payload Length field 1142 may be present when the message isencrypted using an algorithm that uses message padding, as describedbelow in relation to the Padding field.

viii. Initialization Vector

In some embodiments, the GMP 1128 may also include an InitializationVector (IV) field 1144. The IV field 1144, when present, includes avariable number of bytes of data. The IV field 1144 containscryptographic IV values used to encrypt the message. The IV field 1144may be used when the message is encrypted with an algorithm that uses anIV. The length of the IV field 1144 may be derived by the type ofencryption used to encrypt the message.

ix. Application Payload

The GMP 1128 includes an Application Payload field 1146. The ApplicationPayload field 1146 includes a variable number of bytes. The ApplicationPayload field 1146 includes application data conveyed in the message.The length of the Application Payload field 1146 may be determined fromthe Payload Length field 1142, when present. If the Payload Length field1142 is not present, the length of the Application Payload field 1146may be determined by subtracting the length of all other fields from theoverall length of the message and/or data values included within theApplication Payload 1146 (e.g., TLV).

An embodiment of the Application Payload field 1146 is illustrated inFIG. 15. The Application Payload field 1146 includes an APVersion field1170. In some embodiments, the APVersion field 1170 includes eight bitsthat indicate what version of fabric software is supported by thesending device. The Application Payload field 1146 also includes aMessage Type field 1172. The Message Type field 1172 may include eightbits that correspond to a message operation code that indicates the typeof message being sent within a profile. For example, in a softwareupdate profile, a 0x00 may indicate that the message being sent is animage announce. The Application Payload field 1146 further includes anExchange Id field 1174 that includes sixteen bits that corresponds to anexchange identifier that is unique to the sending node for thetransaction.

In addition, the Application Payload field 1146 includes a Profile Idfield 1176. The Profile Id 1176 indicates a “theme of discussion” usedto indicate what type of communication occurs in the message. TheProfile Id 1176 may correspond to one or more profiles that a device maybe capable of communicating. For example, the Profile Id 1176 mayindicate that the message relates to a core profile, a software updateprofile, a status update profile, a data management profile, a climateand comfort profile, a security profile, a safety profile, and/or othersuitable profile types. Each device on the fabric may include a list ofprofiles which are relevant to the device and in which the device iscapable of “participating in the discussion.” For example, many devicesin a fabric may include the core profile, the software update profile,the status update profile, and the data management profile, but onlysome devices would include the climate and comfort profile. TheAPVersion field 1170, Message Type field 1172, the Exchange Id field,the Profile Id field 1176, and the Profile-Specific Header field 1176,if present, may be referred to in combination as the “ApplicationHeader.”

In some embodiments, an indication of the Profile Id via the Profile Idfield 1176 may provide sufficient information to provide a schema fordata transmitted for the profile. However, in some embodiments,additional information may be used to determine further guidance fordecoding the Application Payload field 1146. In such embodiments, theApplication Payload field 1146 may include a Profile-Specific Headerfield 1178. Some profiles may not use the Profile-Specific Header field1178 thereby enabling the Application Payload field 1146 to omit theProfile-Specific Header field 1178. Upon determination of a schema fromthe Profile Id field 1176 and/or the Profile-Specific Header field 1178,data may be encoded/decoded in the Application Payload sub-field 1180.The Application Payload sub-field 1180 includes the core applicationdata to be transmitted between devices and/or services to be stored,rebroadcast, and/or acted upon by the receiving device/service.

x. Message Integrity Check

Returning to FIG. 12, in some embodiments, the GMP 1128 may also includea Message Integrity Check (MIC) field 1148. The MIC field 1148, whenpresent, includes a variable length of bytes of data containing a MICfor the message. The length and byte order of the field depends upon theintegrity check algorithm in use. For example, if the message is checkedfor message integrity using HMAC-SHA-1, the MIC field 1148 includestwenty bytes in big-endian order. Furthermore, the presence of the MICfield 1148 may be determined by whether the Encryption Type field 1162of the Message Header 1132 includes any value other than 0x0.

xi. Padding

The GMP 1128 may also include a Padding field 1150. The Padding field1150, when present, includes a sequence of bytes representing acryptographic padding added to the message to make the encrypted portionof the message evenly divisible by the encryption block size. Thepresence of the Padding field 1150 may be determined by whether the typeof encryption algorithm (e.g., block ciphers in cipher-block chainingmode) indicated by the Encryption Type field 1162 in the Message Header1132 uses cryptographic padding.

xii. Encryption

The Application Payload field 1146, the MIC field 1148, and the Paddingfield 1150 together form an Encryption block 1152. The Encryption block1152 includes the portions of the message that are encrypted when theEncryption Type field 1162 in the Message Header 1132 is any value otherthan 0x0.

xiii. Message Signature

The GMP 1128 may also include a Message Signature field 1154. TheMessage Signature field 1154, when present, includes a sequence of bytesof variable length that contains a cryptographic signature of themessage. The length and the contents of the Message Signature field maybe determined according to the type of signature algorithm in use andindicated by the Signature Type field 1164 of the Message Header 1132.For example, if ECDSA using the Prime256v1 elliptical curve parametersis the algorithm in use, the Message Signature field 1154 may includetwo thirty-two bit integers encoded in little-endian order.

IV. Profiles and Protocols

As discussed above, one or more schemas of information may be selectedupon desired general discussion type for the message. A profile mayconsist of one or more schemas. For example, one set of schemas ofinformation may be used to encode/decode data in the Application Payloadsub-field 1180 when one profile is indicated in the Profile Id field1176 of the Application Payload 1146. However, a different set ofschemas may be used to encode/decode data in the Application Payloadsub-field 1180 when a different profile is indicated in the Profile Idfield 1176 of the Application Payload 1146.

FIG. 16 illustrates a schematic view of a variety of profiles that maybe used in various messages. For example, one or more profile schemasmay be stored in a profile library 300 that may be used by the devicesto encode or decode messages based on a profile ID. The profile library300 may organize the profiles into groups. For example, an application-and vendor-specific profile group 302 of profiles may be application-and vendor-specific profiles, and a provisioning group 304 of profilesmay profiles used to provision networks, services, and/or fabrics. Theapplication- and vendor-specific profile group 302 may include asoftware update profile 306, a locale profile 308, a time profile 310, asensor profile 312, an access control profile 314, an alarm profile 316,and one or more vendor unique profiles 318. The software update profile306 may be used by the devices to update software within the devices.The locale profile 308 may be used to specify a location and/or languageset as the active locale for the device. The alarm profile 316 may beused to send, read, and propagate alarms.

The profiles library 300 may also include a device control profile 320,a network provisioning profile 322, a fabric provisioning profile 324,and a service provisioning profile 326. The device control profile 320allows one device to request that another device exercise a specifieddevice control (e.g., arm failsafe, etc.) capability. The networkprovisioning profile 322 enables a device to be added to a new logicalnetwork (e.g., WiFi or 802.15.4). The fabric provisioning profile 324allows the devices to join a pre-existing fabric or create a new fabric.The service provisioning profile 326 enables the devices to be paired toa service.

The profiles library 300 may also include a strings profile 328, adevice description profile 330, a device profile 332, device powerextended profile 334, a device power profile 336, a device connectivityextended profile 338, a device connectivity profile 340, a servicedirectory profile 342, a data management profile 344, an echo profile346, a security profile 348, and a core profile 350. The devicedescription profile 330 may be used by a device to identify one or moreother devices. The service directory profile 342 enables a device tocommunicate with a service. The data management profile 344 enablesdevices to view and/or track data stored in another device. The echoprofile 346 enables a device to determine whether the device isconnected to a target device and the latency in the connection. Thesecurity profile 348 enables the devices to communicate securely.

The core profile 350 includes a status reporting profile 352 thatenables devices to report successes and failures of requested actions.Additionally, in certain embodiments, each device may include a set ofmethods used to process profiles. For example, a core protocol mayinclude the following profiles: GetProfiles, GetSchema, GetSchemas,GetProperty, GetProperties, SetProperty, SetProperties, RemoveProperty,RemoveProperties, RequestEcho, NotifyPropertyChanged, and/orNotifyPropertiesChanged. The Get Profiles method may return an array ofprofiles supported by a queried node. The GetSchema and GetSchemasmethods may respectively return one or all schemas for a specificprofile. GetProperty and GetProperties may respectively return a valueor all value pairs for a profile schema. SetProperty and SetPropertiesmay respectively set single or multiple values for a profile schema.RemoveProperty and RemoveProperties may respectively attempt to remove asingle or multiple values from a profile schema. RequestEcho may send anarbitrary data payload to a specified node which the node returnsunmodified. NotifyPropertyChange and NotifyPropertiesChanged mayrespectively issue a notification if a single/multiple value pairs havechanged for a profile schema.

To aid in understanding profiles and schemas, a non-exclusive list ofprofiles and schemas are provided below for illustrative purposes.

A. Status Reporting

A status reporting schema is presented as the status reporting frame1182 in FIG. 17. The status reporting schema may be a separate profileor may be included in one or more profiles (e.g., a core profile). Incertain embodiments, the status reporting frame 1182 includes a profilefield 1184, a status code field 1186, a next status field 1188, and mayinclude an additional status info field 1190.

i. Profile Field

In some embodiments, the profile field 1184 includes four bytes of datathat defines the profile under which the information in the presentstatus report is to be interpreted. An embodiment of the profile field1184 is illustrated in FIG. 18 with two sub-fields. In the illustratedembodiment, the profile field 1184 includes a profile Id sub-field 1192that includes sixteen bits that corresponds to a vendor-specificidentifier for the profile under which the value of the status codefield 1186 is defined. The profile field 1184 may also includes a vendorId sub-field 1194 that includes sixteen bits that identifies a vendorproviding the profile identified in the profile Id sub-field 1192.

ii. Status Code

In certain embodiments, the status code field 1186 includes sixteen bitsthat encode the status that is being reported. The values in the statuscode field 1186 are interpreted in relation to values encoded in thevendor Id sub-field 1192 and the profile Id sub-field 1194 provided inthe profile field 1184. Additionally, in some embodiments, the statuscode space may be divided into four groups, as indicated in Table 8below.

TABLE 8 Status Code Range Table Range Name Description 0x0000 . . .0x0010 success A request was successfully processed. 0x0011 . . . 0x0020client An error has or may have occurred on error the client-side of aclient/server exchange. For example, the client has made a badly-formedrequest. 0x0021 . . . 0x0030 server An error has or may have occurred onerror the server side of a client/server exchange. For example, theserver has failed to process a client request to an operating systemerror. 0x0031 . . . 0x0040 continue/ Additional processing will be used,redirect such as redirection, to complete a particular exchange, but noerrors yet.Although Table 8 identifies general status code ranges that may be usedseparately assigned and used for each specific profile Id, in someembodiments, some status codes may be common to each of the profiles.For example, these profiles may be identified using a common profile(e.g., core profile) identifier, such as 0x00000000.

iii. Next Status

In some embodiments, the next status code field 1188 includes eightbits. The next status code field 1188 indicates whether there isfollowing status information after the currently reported status. Iffollowing status information is to be included, the next status codefield 1188 indicates what type of status information is to be included.In some embodiments, the next status code field 1188 may always beincluded, thereby potentially increasing the size of the message.However, by providing an opportunity to chain status informationtogether, the potential for overall reduction of data sent may bereduced. If the next status field 1186 is 0x00, no following statusinformation field 1190 is included. However, non-zero values mayindicate that data may be included and indicate the form in which thedata is included (e.g., in a TLV packet).

iv. Additional Status Info

When the next status code field 1188 is non-zero, the additional statusinfo field 1190 is included in the message. If present, the status itemfield may contain status in a form that may be determined by the valueof the preceding status type field (e.g., TLV format)

B. Software Update

The software update profile or protocol is a set of schemas and aclient/server protocol that enables clients to be made aware of or seekinformation about the presence of software that they may download andinstall. Using the software update protocol, a software image may beprovided to the profile client in a format known to the client. Thesubsequent processing of the software image may be generic,device-specific, or vendor-specific and determined by the softwareupdate protocol and the devices.

i. General Application Headers for the Application Payload

In order to be recognized and handled properly, software update profileframes may be identified within the Application Payload field 1146 ofthe GMP 1128. In some embodiments, all software update profile framesmay use a common Profile Id 1176, such as 0x0000000C. Additionally,software update profile frames may include a Message Type field 1172that indicates additional information and may chosen according to Table9 below and the type of message being sent.

TABLE 9 Software update profile message types Type Message 0x00 imageannounce 0x01 image query 0x02 image query response 0x03 download notify0x04 notify response 0x05 update notify 0x06 . . . 0xff reservedAdditionally, as described below, the software update sequence may beinitiated by a server sending the update as an image announce or aclient receiving the update as an image query. In either embodiment, anExchange Id 1174 from the initiating event is used for all messages usedin relation to the software update.

ii. Protocol Sequence

FIG. 19 illustrates an embodiment of a protocol sequence 1196 for asoftware update between a software update client 1198 and a softwareupdate server 1200. In certain embodiments, any device in the fabric maybe the software update client 1198 or the software update server 1200.Certain embodiments of the protocol sequence 1196 may include additionalsteps, such as those illustrated as dashed lines that may be omitted insome software update transmissions.

1. Service Discovery

In some embodiments, the protocol sequence 1196 begins with a softwareupdate profile server announcing a presence of the update. However, inother embodiments, such as the illustrated embodiment, the protocolsequence 1196 begins with a service discovery 1202, as discussed above.

2. Image Announce

In some embodiments, an image announce message 1204 may be multicast orunicast by the software update server 1200. The image announce message1204 informs devices in the fabric that the server 1200 has a softwareupdate to offer. If the update is applicable to the client 1198, uponreceipt of the image announce message 1204, the software update client1198 responds with an image query message 1206. In certain embodiments,the image announce message 1204 may not be included in the protocolsequence 1196. Instead, in such embodiments, the software update client1198 may use a polling schedule to determine when to send the imagequery message 1206.

3. Image Query

In certain embodiments, the image query message 1206 may be unicast fromthe software update client 1198 either in response to an image announcemessage 1204 or according to a polling schedule, as discussed above. Theimage query message 1206 includes information from the client 1198 aboutitself. An embodiment of a frame of the image query message 1206 isillustrated in FIG. 20. As illustrated in FIG. 20, certain embodimentsof the image query message 1206 may include a frame control field 1218,a product specification field 1220, a vendor specific data field 1222, aversion specification field 1224, a locale specification field 1226, anintegrity type supported field 1228, and an update schemes supportedfield 1230.

a. Frame Control

The frame control field 1218 includes 1 byte and indicates variousinformation about the image query message 1204. An example of the framecontrol field 128 is illustrated in FIG. 21. As illustrated, the framecontrol field 1218 may include three sub-fields: vendor specific flag1232, locale specification flag 1234, and a reserved field S3. Thevendor specific flag 1232 indicates whether the vendor specific datafield 1222 is included in the message image query message. For example,when the vendor specific flag 1232 is 0 no vendor specific data field1222 may be present in the image query message, but when the vendorspecific flag 1232 is 1 the vendor specific data field 1222 may bepresent in the image query message. Similarly, a 1 value in the localespecification flag 1234 indicates that a locale specification field 1226is present in the image query message, and a 0 value indicates that thelocale specification field 1226 in not present in the image querymessage.

b. Product Specification

The product specification field 1220 is a six byte field. An embodimentof the product specification field 1220 is illustrated in FIG. 22. Asillustrated, the product specification field 1220 may include threesub-fields: a vendor Id field 1236, a product Id field 1238, and aproduct revision field 1240. The vendor Id field 1236 includes sixteenbits that indicate a vendor for the software update client 1198. Theproduct Id field 1238 includes sixteen bits that indicate the deviceproduct that is sending the image query message 1206 as the softwareupdate client 1198. The product revision field 1240 includes sixteenbits that indicate a revision attribute of the software update client1198.

c. Vendor Specific Data

The vendor specific data field 1222, when present in the image querymessage 1206, has a length of a variable number of bytes. The presenceof the vendor specific data field 1222 may be determined from the vendorspecific flag 1232 of the frame control field 1218. When present, thevendor specific data field 1222 encodes vendor specific informationabout the software update client 1198 in a TLV format, as describedabove.

d. Version Specification

An embodiment of the version specification field 1224 is illustrated inFIG. 23. The version specification field 1224 includes a variable numberof bytes sub-divided into two sub-fields: a version length field 1242and a version string field 1244. The version length field 1242 includeseight bits that indicate a length of the version string field 1244. Theversion string field 1244 is variable in length and determined by theversion length field 1242. In some embodiments, the version string field1244 may be capped at 255 UTF-8 characters in length. The value encodedin the version string field 1244 indicates a software version attributefor the software update client 1198.

e. Locale Specification

In certain embodiments, the locale specification field 1226 may beincluded in the image query message 1206 when the locale specificationflag 1234 of the frame control 1218 is 1. An embodiment of the localespecification field 1226 is illustrated in FIG. 24. The illustratedembodiment of the locale specification field 1226 includes a variablenumber of bytes divided into two sub-fields: a locale string lengthfield 1246 and a locale string field 1248. The locale string lengthfield 1246 includes eight bits that indicate a length of the localestring field 1248. The locale string field 1248 of the localespecification field 1226 may be variable in length and contain a stringof UTF-8 characters encoding a local description based on PortableOperating System Interface (POSIX) locale codes. The standard format forPOSIX locale codes is [language[_territory][.codeset][@modifier]] Forexample, the POSIX representation for Australian English is en_AU.UTF8.

f. Integrity Types Supported

An embodiment of the integrity types field 1228 is illustrated in FIG.25. The integrity types supported field 1228 includes two to four bytesof data divided into two sub-fields: a type list length field 1250 andan integrity type list field 1252. The type list length field 1250includes eight bits that indicate the length in bytes of the integritytype list field 1252. The integrity type list field 1252 indicates thevalue of the software update integrity type attribute of the softwareupdate client 1198. In some embodiments, the integrity type may bederived from Table 10 below.

TABLE 10 Example integrity types Value Integrity Type 0x00 SHA-160 0x01SHA-256 0x02 SHA-512The integrity type list field 1252 may contain at least one element fromTable 10 or other additional values not included.

g. Update Schemes Supported

An embodiment of the schemes supported field 1230 is illustrated in FIG.26. The schemes supported field 1230 includes a variable number of bytesdivided into two sub-fields: a scheme list length field 1254 and anupdate scheme list field 1256. The scheme list length field 1254includes eight bits that indicate a length of the update scheme listfield in bytes. The update scheme list field 1256 of the update schemessupported field 1222 is variable in length determined by the scheme listlength field 1254. The update scheme list field 1256 represents anupdate schemes attributes of the software update profile of the softwareupdate client 1198. An embodiment of example values is shown in Table 11below.

TABLE 11 Example update schemes Value Update Scheme 0x00 HTTP 0x01 HTTPS0x02 SFTP 0x03 Fabric-specific File Transfer Protocol (e.g., Bulk DataTransfer discussed below)Upon receiving the image query message 1206, the software update server1200 uses the transmitted information to determine whether the softwareupdate server 1200 has an update for the software update client 1198 andhow best to deliver the update to the software update client 1198.

4. Image Query Response

Returning to FIG. 19, after the software update server 1200 receives theimage query message 1206 from the software update client 1198, thesoftware update server 1200 responds with an image query response 1208.The image query response 1208 includes either information detailing whyan update image is not available to the software update client 1198 orinformation about the available image update to enable to softwareupdate client 1198 to download and install the update.

An embodiment of a frame of the image query response 1208 is illustratedin FIG. 27. As illustrated, the image query response 1208 includes fivepossible sub-fields: a query status field 1258, a uniform resourceidentifier (URI) field 1260, an integrity specification field 1262, anupdate scheme field 1264, and an update options field 1266.

a. Query Status

The query status field 1258 includes a variable number of bytes andcontains status reporting formatted data, as discussed above inreference to status reporting. For example, the query status field 1258may include image query response status codes, such as those illustratedbelow in Table 12.

TABLE 12 Example image query response status codes Profile CodeDescription 0x00000000 0x0000 The server has processed the image querymessage 1206 and has an update for the software update client 1198.0x0000000C 0x0001 The server has processed the image query message 1206,but the server does not have an update for the software update client1198. 0x00000000 0x0010 The server could not process the request becauseof improper form for the request. 0x00000000 0x0020 The server could notprocess the request due to an internal error

b. URI

The URI field 1260 includes a variable number of bytes. The presence ofthe URI field 1260 may be determined by the query status field 1258. Ifthe query status field 1258 indicates that an update is available, theURI field 1260 may be included. An embodiment of the URI field 1260 isillustrated in FIG. 28. The URI field 1260 includes two sub-fields: aURI length field 1268 and a URI string field 1270. The URI length field1268 includes sixteen bits that indicates the length of the URI stringfield 1270 in UTF-8 characters. The URI string field 1270 and indicatesthe URI attribute of the software image update being presented, suchthat the software update client 1198 may be able to locate, download,and install a software image update, when present.

c. Integrity Specification

The integrity specification field 1262 may variable in length andpresent when the query status field 1258 indicates that an update isavailable from the software update server 1198 to the software updateclient 1198. An embodiment of the integrity specification field 1262 isillustrated in FIG. 29. As illustrated, the integrity specificationfield 1262 includes two sub-fields: an integrity type field 1272 and anintegrity value field 1274. The integrity type field 1272 includes eightbits that indicates an integrity type attribute for the software imageupdate and may be populated using a list similar to that illustrated inTable 10 above. The integrity value field 1274 includes the integrityvalue that is used to verify that the image update message hasmaintained integrity during the transmission.

d. Update Scheme

The update scheme field 1264 includes eight bits and is present when thequery status field 1258 indicates that an update is available from thesoftware update server 1198 to the software update client 1198. Ifpresent, the update scheme field 1264 indicates a scheme attribute forthe software update image being presented to the software update server1198.

e. Update Options

The update options field 1266 includes eight bits and is present whenthe query status field 1258 indicates that an update is available fromthe software update server 1198 to the software update client 1198. Theupdate options field 1266 may be sub-divided as illustrated in FIG. 30.As illustrated, the update options field 1266 includes four sub-fields:an update priority field 1276, an update condition field 1278, a reportstatus flag 1280, and a reserved field 1282. In some embodiments, theupdate priority field 1276 includes two bits. The update priority field1276 indicates a priority attribute of the update and may be determinedusing values such as those illustrated in Table 13 below.

TABLE 13 Example update priority values Value Description 00 Normal -update during a period of low network traffic 01 Critical - update asquickly as possibleThe update condition field 1278 includes three bits that may be used todetermine conditional factors to determine when or if to update. Forexample, values in the update condition field 1278 may be decoded usingthe Table 14 below.

TABLE 14 Example update conditions Value Decription 0 Update withoutconditions 1 Update if the version of the software running on the updateclient software does not match the update version. 2 Update if theversion of the software running on the update client software is olderthan the update version. 3 Update if the user opts into an update with auser interfaceThe report status flag 1280 is a single bit that indicates whether thesoftware update client 1198 should respond with a download notifymessage 1210. If the report status flag 1280 is set to 1 the softwareupdate server 1198 is requesting a download notify message 1210 to besent after the software update is downloaded by the software updateclient 1200.

If the image query response 1208 indicates that an update is available.The software update client 1198 downloads 1210 the update using theinformation included in the image query response 1208 at a timeindicated in the image query response 1208.

5. Download Notify

After the update download 1210 is successfully completed or failed andthe report status flag 1280 value is 1, the software update client 1198may respond with the download notify message 1212. The download notifymessage 1210 may be formatted in accordance with the status reportingformat discussed above. An example of status codes used in the downloadnotify message 1212 is illustrated in Table 15 below.

TABLE 15 Example download notify status codes Profile Code Description0x00000000 0x0000 The download has been completed, and integrityverified 0x0000000C 0x0020 The download could not be completed due tofaulty download instructions. 0x0000000C 0x0021 The image query responsemessage 1208 appears proper, but the download or integrity verificationfailed. 0x0000000C 0x0022 The integrity of the download could not beverified.In addition to the status reporting described above, the download notifymessage 1208 may include additional status information that may berelevant to the download and/or failure to download.

6. Notify Response

The software update server 1200 may respond with a notify responsemessage 1214 in response to the download notify message 1212 or anupdate notify message 1216. The notify response message 1214 may includethe status reporting format, as described above. For example, the notifyresponse message 1214 may include status codes as enumerated in Table 16below.

TABLE 16 Example notify response status codes Profile Code Description0x00000000 0x0030 Continue - the notification is acknowledged, but theupdate has not completed, such as download notify message 1214 receivedbut update notify message 1216 has not. 0x00000000 0x0000 Success - thenotification is acknowledged, and the update has completed. 0x0000000C0x0023 Abort - the notification is acknowledged, but the server cannotcontinue the update. 0x0000000C 0x0031 Retry query - the notification isack- nowledged, and the software update client 1198 is directed to retrythe update by submitting another image query message 1206.In addition to the status reporting described above, the notify responsemessage 1214 may include additional status information that may berelevant to the download, update, and/or failure to download/update thesoftware update.

7. Update Notify

After the update is successfully completed or failed and the reportstatus flag 1280 value is 1, the software update client 1198 may respondwith the update notify message 1216. The update notify message 1216 mayuse the status reporting format described above. For example, the updatenotify message 1216 may include status codes as enumerated in Table 17below.

TABLE 17 Example update notify status codes Profile Code Description0x00000000 0x0000 Success - the update has been completed. 0x0000000C0x0010 Client error - the update failed due to a problem in the softwareupdate client 1198.In addition to the status reporting described above, the update notifymessage 1216 may include additional status information that may berelevant to the update and/or failure to update.

C. Bulk Transfer

In some embodiments, it may be desirable to transfer bulk data files(e.g., sensor data, logs, or update images) between nodes/services inthe fabric 1000. To enable transfer of bulk data, a separate profile orprotocol may be incorporated into one or more profiles and madeavailable to the nodes/services in the nodes. The bulk data transferprotocol may model data files as collections of data with metadataattachments. In certain embodiments, the data may be opaque, but themetadata may be used to determine whether to proceed with a requestedfile transfer.

Devices participating in a bulk transfer may be generally dividedaccording to the bulk transfer communication and event creation. Asillustrated in FIG. 31, each communication 1400 in a bulk transferincludes a sender 1402 that is a node/service that sends the bulk data1404 to a receiver 1406 that is a node/service that receives the bulkdata 1404. In some embodiments, the receiver may send status information1408 to the sender 1402 indicating a status of the bulk transfer.Additionally, a bulk transfer event may be initiated by either thesender 1402 (e.g., upload) or the receiver 1406 (e.g., download) as theinitiator. A node/service that responds to the initiator may be referredto as the responder in the bulk data transfer.

Bulk data transfer may occur using either synchronous or asynchronousmodes. The mode in which the data is transferred may be determined usinga variety of factors, such as the underlying protocol (e.g., UDP or TCP)on which the bulk data is sent. In connectionless protocols (e.g., UDP),bulk data may be transferred using a synchronous mode that allows one ofthe nodes/services (“the driver”) to control a rate at which thetransfer proceeds. In certain embodiments, after each message in asynchronous mode bulk data transfer, an acknowledgment may be sentbefore sending the next message in the bulk data transfer. The drivermay be the sender 1402 or the receiver 1406. In some embodiments, thedriver may toggle between an online state and an offline mode whilesending messages to advance the transfer when in the online state. Inbulk data transfers using connection-oriented protocols (e.g., TCP),bulk data may be transferred using an asynchronous mode that does notuse an acknowledgment before sending successive messages or a singledriver.

Regardless of whether the bulk data transfer is performed using asynchronous or asynchronous mode, a type of message may be determinedusing a Message Type 1172 in the Application Payload 1146 according theProfile Id 1176 in the Application Payload. Table 18 includes an exampleof message types that may be used in relation to a bulk data transferprofile value in the Profile Id 1176.

TABLE 18 Example of profile message types for bulk data transferprofiles Type Message 0x01 snapshot request 0x02 watch request 0x03periodic update request 0x04 refresh update 0x05 cancel view update 0x06view response 0x07 explicit update request 0x08 view update request 0x09Block EOF 0x0A Ack 0x0B Block EOF 0x0C Error

i. SendInit

An embodiment of a SendInit message 1420 is illustrated in FIG. 32. TheSendInit message 1420 may include seven fields: a transfer control field1422, a range control field 1424, a file designator length field 1426, aproposed max block size field 1428, a start offset field 1430, lengthfield 1432, and a file designator field 1434.

The transfer control field 1422 includes a byte of data illustrated inFIG. 33. The transfer control field includes at least four fields: anAsynch flag 1450, an RDrive flag 1452, an SDrive flag 1454, and aversion field 1456. The Asynch flag 1450 indicates whether the proposedtransfer may be performed using a synchronous or an asynchronous mode.The RDrive flag 1452 and the SDrive flag 1454 each respectivelyindicates whether the receiver 1406 is capable of transferring data withthe receiver 1402 or the sender 1408 driving a synchronous modetransfer.

The range control field 1424 includes a byte of data such as the rangecontrol field 1424 illustrated in FIG. 34. In the illustratedembodiment, the range control field 1424 includes at least three fields:a BigExtent flag 1470, a start offset flag 1472, and a definite lengthflag 1474. The definite length flag 1474 indicates whether the transferhas a definite length. The definite length flag 1474 indicates whetherthe length field 1432 is present in the SendInit message 1420, and theBigExtent flag 1470 indicates a size for the length field 1432. Forexample, in some embodiments, a value of 1 in the BigExtent flag 1470indicates that the length field 1432 is eight bytes. Otherwise, thelength field 1432 is four bytes, when present. If the transfer has adefinite length, the start offset flag 1472 indicates whether a startoffset is present. If a start offset is present, the BigExtent flag 1470indicates a length for the start offset field 1430. For example, in someembodiments, a value of 1 in the BigExtent flag 1470 indicates that thestart offset field 1430 is eight bytes. Otherwise, the start offsetfield 1430 is four bytes, when present.

Returning to FIG. 32, the file designator length field 1426 includes twobytes that indicate a length of the file designator field 1434. The filedesignator field 1434 which is a variable length field dependent uponthe file designator length field 1426. The max block size field 1428proposes a maximum size of block that may be transferred in a singletransfer.

The start offset field 1430, when present, has a length indicated by theBigExtent flag 1470. The value of the start offset field 1430 indicatesa location within the file to be transferred from which the sender 1402may start the transfer, essentially allowing large file transfers to besegmented into multiple bulk transfer sessions.

The length field 1432, when present, indicates a length of the file tobe transferred if the definite length field 1474 indicates that the filehas a definite length. In some embodiments, if the receiver 1402receives a final block before the length is achieved, the receiver mayconsider the transfer failed and report an error as discussed below.

The file designator field 1434 is a variable length identifier chosen bythe sender 1402 to identify the file to be sent. In some embodiments,the sender 1402 and the receiver 1406 may negotiate the identifier forthe file prior to transmittal. In other embodiments, the receiver 1406may use metadata along with the file designator field 1434 to determinewhether to accept the transfer and how to handle the data. The length ofthe file designator field 1434 may be determined from the filedesignator length field 1426. In some embodiments, the SendInit message1420 may also include a metadata field 1480 of a variable length encodedin a TLV format. The metadata field 1480 enables the initiator to sendadditional information, such as application-specific information aboutthe file to be transferred. In some embodiments, the metadata field 1480may be used to avoid negotiating the file designator field 1434 prior tothe bulk data transfer.

ii. SendAccept

A send accept message is transmitted from the responder to indicate thetransfer mode chosen for the transfer. An embodiment of a SendAcceptmessage 1500 is presented in FIG. 35. The SendAccept message 1500includes a transfer control field 1502 similar to the transfer controlfield 1422 of the SendInit message 1420. However, in some embodiments,only the RDrive flag 1452 or the SDrive 1454 may have a nonzero value inthe transfer control field 1502 to identify the sender 1402 or thereceiver 1406 as the driver of a synchronous mode transfer. TheSendAccept message 1500 also includes a max block size field 1504 thatindicates a maximum block size for the transfer. The block size field1504 may be equal to the value of the max block field 1428 of theSendInit message 1420, but the value of the max block size field 1504may be smaller than the value proposed in the max block field 1428.Finally, the SendAccept message 1500 may include a metadata field 1506that indicates information that the receiver 1506 may pass to the sender1402 about the transfer.

iii. SendReject

When the receiver 1206 rejects a transfer after a SendInit message, thereceiver 1206 may send a SendReject message that indicates that one ormore issues exist regarding the bulk data transfer between the sender1202 and the receiver 1206. The send reject message may be formattedaccording to the status reporting format described above and illustratedin FIG. 36. A send reject frame 1520 may include a status code field1522 that includes two bytes that indicate a reason for rejecting thetransfer. The status code field 1522 may be decoded using values similarto those enumerated as indicated in the Table 19 below.

TABLE 19 Example status codes for send reject message Status CodeDescription 0x0020 Transfer method not supported 0x0021 File designatorunknown 0x0022 Start offset not supported 0x0011 Length required 0x0012Length too large 0x002F Unknown errorIn some embodiments, the send reject message 1520 may include a nextstatus field 1524. The next status field 1524, when present, may beformatted and encoded as discussed above in regard to the next statusfield 1188 of a status report frame. In certain embodiments, the sendreject message 1520 may include an additional information field 1526.The additional information field 1526, when present, may storeinformation about an additional status and may be encoded using the TLVformat discussed above.

iv. ReceiveInit

A ReceiveInit message may be transmitted by the receiver 1206 as theinitiator. The ReceiveInit message may be formatted and encoded similarto the SendInit message 1480 illustrated in FIG. 32, but the BigExtentfield 1470 may be referred to as a maximum length field that specifiesthe maximum file size that the receiver 1206 can handle.

v. ReceiveAccept

When the sender 1202 receives a ReceiveInit message, the sender 1202 mayrespond with a ReceiveAccept message. The ReceiveAccept message may beformatted and encoded as the ReceiveAccept message 1540 illustrated inFIG. 37. The ReceiveAccept message 1540 may include four fields: atransfer control field 1542, a range control field 1544, a max blocksize field 1546, and sometimes a length field 1548. The ReceiveAcceptmessage 1540 may be formatted similar to the SendAccept message 1502 ofFIG. 35 with the second byte indicating the range control field 1544.Furthermore, the range control field 1544 may be formatted and encodedusing the same methods discussed above regarding the range control field1424 of FIG. 34.

vi. ReceiveReject

If the sender 1202 encounters an issue with transferring the file to thereceiver 1206, the sender 1202 may send a ReceiveReject messageformatted and encoded similar to a SendReject message 48 using thestatus reporting format, both discussed above. However, the status codefield 1522 may be encoded/decoded using values similar to thoseenumerated as indicated in the Table 20 below.

TABLE 20 Example status codes for receive reject message Status CodeDescription 0x0020 Transfer method not supported 0x0021 File designatorunknown 0x0022 Start offset not supported 0x0013 Length too short 0x002FUnknown error

vii. BlockQuery

A BlockQuery message may be sent by a driving receiver 1202 in asynchronous mode bulk data transfer to request the next block of data. ABlockQuery impliedly acknowledges receipt of a previous block of data ifnot explicit Acknowledgement has been sent. In embodiments usingasynchronous transfers, a BlockQuery message may be omitted from thetransmission process.

viii. Block

Blocks of data transmitted in a bulk data transfer may include anylength greater than 0 and less than a max block size agreed upon by thesender 1202 and the receiver 1206.

ix. BlockEOF

A final block in a data transfer may be presented as a Block end of file(BlockEOF). The BlockEOF may have a length between 0 and the max blocksize. If the receiver 1206 finds a discrepancy between a pre-negotiatedfile size (e.g., length field 1432) and the amount of data actuallytransferred, the receiver 1206 may send an Error message indicating thefailure, as discussed below.

x. Ack

If the sender 1202 is driving a synchronous mode transfer, the sender1202 may wait until receiving an acknowledgment (Ack) after sending aBlock before sending the next Block. If the receiver is driving asynchronous mode transfer, the receiver 1206 may send either an explicitAck or a BlockQuery to acknowledge receipt of the previous block.Furthermore, in asynchronous mode bulk transfers, the Ack message may beomitted from the transmission process altogether.

xi. AckEOF

An acknowledgement of an end of file (AckEOF) may be sent in bulktransfers sent in synchronous mode or asynchronous mode. Using theAckEOF the receiver 1206 indicates that all data in the transfer hasbeen received and signals the end of the bulk data transfer session.

xii. Error

In the occurrence of certain issues in the communication, the sender1202 or the receiver 1206 may send an error message to prematurely endthe bulk data transfer session. Error messages may be formatted andencoded according to the status reporting format discussed above. Forexample, an error message may be formatted similar to the SendRejectframe 1520 of FIG. 36. However, the status codes may be encoded/decodedwith values including and/or similar to those enumerated in Table 21below.

TABLE 21 Example status codes for an error message in a bulk datatransfer profile Status code Description 0x001F Transfer failed unknownerror 0x0011 Overflow error

D. Time Variant Data Profile

Time-variant data profile may be used for reporting and exchangingtime-variant historical data among endpoints within a smart network. Insome embodiments, at least a portion of the role of any device in thesmart network is to observe and record the environment of which thedevice is a part. This observation and reporting is done over time andreporting those time-variant historical observations to other endpointsin the smart network. The time-variant data profile defines a set oftags and data values for exchanging these time-variant historicalobservations atop the bulk data transfer protocol. In some embodiments,this profile has an identified profile identifier that indicates that acommunication includes data in the time-variant data profile

While it is possible to exchange time-variant data using the bulk datatransfer protocol as opaque, binary data, it may be desirable toexchange such data in a way to enable a pipeline of backend consumersand applications for the data. Consequently, tagging or marking up thedata in a well-known format provides scale in both the number of dataproducers as well as consumers without invasive or disruptiveredefinition of the encoders and decoders used for the data.

Time-variant data in this profile is tagged using the tag-length-value(TLV) Format. As previously discussed, the structure defined and imposedby the TLV amounts to a small read-only section at the “front” of atime-variant exchange that describe the data streams at the “back.” Insome embodiments, the format may be trivially transformed to otherrepresentations such as JSON or XML for backend consumption andprocessing. Moreover, the data may be represented in a known byte order(e.g., big endian or little endian) to provide for ease of conversionand interpretation.

a. Stream Structures

A time-variant data exchange 1632 is organized as nested set ofstructures, as illustrated in FIG. 38. At the outermost nesting level isthe overall streams structure 1634 that marks the overall time-variantdata exchange 1632. Contained within the streams structure 1634 is asingle version element 1636, a description field 1638, a resourceselement 1640, descriptors arrays 1642, and records arrays 1644. Theversion element 1636 is a value (e.g., 8-bit unsigned fixed-pointinteger) that indicates the version of the structure described withinthe streams container 1634. For example, in some embodiments, theversion may be a 1 for the first version.

The description field 1638 includes a human readable string thatdescribes the entire time variant stream. In some embodiments, thedescription field 1638 may be formatted as a UTF-8 string. In someembodiments, the description field 1638 may be advisory and/orinformative for later analysis. Moreover, in some embodiments, thedescription field 1638 may be omitted from at least some broadcastedmessages.

The resources element 1640 inside the streams structure 1634 is anoptional element that contains an array of one or more URI elements 1646that map to resources to be fetched while parsing the streams structure1634. In some embodiments, URI elements 1646 are strings. In someembodiments, the URIs 1646 may also include an identification of a paththat identifies the time-variant data element into which the data is tobe imported. When importing array data from multiple locations into thesame destination array, the multiple source arrays may be concatenatedtogether in the order the resource elements 1640.

In some embodiments, URI elements 1648 shared between vendors/publicdescriptors may also be URLs. In such scenarios, the service that wouldreturn the resources requested by providing these URLs may set anappropriate MIME type that is an indicator of the encoding of theresource fetched. For example, if the resource is encoded as a TLVelement, the appropriate MIME type may be“application/vnd.nest.weave.tvd+tlv”. Table 22 provides examples ofpossible MIME types

TABLE 22 Example MIME types Resource Encoding MIME Type TLVapplication/vnd.<vendor>.weave.tvd+tlv JSONapplication/vnd.<vendor>.weave.tvd+json XMLapplication/vnd.<vendor>.weave.tvd+xml

Each of these external resources that are imported may be decoded intoan array of descriptor elements 1642. Resources element 1640 can havemultiple descriptors elements which could point to resources that haveintersecting descriptor elements 1654.

The imported resources, decode into the descriptors elements equivalentto the descriptor elements 1654 in the descriptors array 1642 inside theparent streams element 1634. The descriptors element 1642 includes oneor more descriptor structures 1654 that includes metadata describing thedata contained within the following records structure element 1644. Therecords structure element 1644 includes one or more record structures1656, which represents the historical time-variant data samples beingexchanged. Moreover, each descriptor structure 1654 is correlated to acorresponding record structure 1656 through a key/value pairs sharedwithin respective structures through respective identifier fields 1658.

Resources element 1654 inside the streams element 1634 can containmultiple URIs that import different sets of descriptors. Also, a streamselement 1634 can contain inline descriptors arrays 1642 that haveintersecting/non-interacting descriptors. In some embodiments, the URImay include a vendor identifier and a product identifier. For example,the URI might include http://tlvsite.com/0x235A/0x0005/85a14e9.tlv.Furthermore, certain constraints may be placed on the URIs. For example,in some embodiments, URIs may contain domain information as anidentifier of vendor and domain information should be in lower cased.(e.g http://www.tlvsite.com/tvd/ or http://tvd.tlvsite.com/). Moreover,in certain embodiments, the URIs may contain the product name, productversion, and/or a schema version or a unique identifier for the resourcelike a SHA1# of the resource (e.g.,http://tlvsite.com/tvd/hazard_detector/t1/#85a14e9 orhttp://hazard_detector.tvd.tlvsite.com/#85a14e9). In some embodiments,the URIs may constrain use of delimiter characters, such as “/”, in theidentifier of the resource. In some embodiments, the URIs may have anextension to specify encoding of the resource (e.ghttp://hazard_detector.tvd.tlvsite.com/85a14e9.tlv). In someembodiments, public URLs may include vendorId and productId fornamespacing (e.g http://tvd.tlvsite.com/235A/5/85a14e9.tlv).

Some resources that are imported may be decoded into an ExternalDescriptors element that may be parsed independently from andinterpreted outside the Streams object 1632. FIG. 39 illustrates apossible structure for an External Descriptor 1648, in accordance withan embodiment. As illustrated, the External Descriptor structure 1648includes an array of one or more Descriptor elements 1650. TheseDescriptor elements 1650 may be similar in structure to the Descriptors1642, but the External Descriptors array 1648 may be encoded with a TopLevel Profile Tag (e.g., ExtDescriptor tag) with each Descriptor 1650therein having a context tag to maintain context specific interpretationof the Descriptor elements 1642. In certain embodiments, the ExternalDescriptors 1650 may be formatted in any suitable format. However, insome embodiments, a TLV encoding may be used to maintain consistencybetween imported elements and inline elements already present. In someembodiments, when external resources are requested by their URIs theservice that returns these external descriptors. The Table 23 belowprovides example tags used by this profile to format data. Each tag issubsequently described in detail.

TABLE 23 Example tags for the time-variant profile Name Tag Type ElementType Value Resources Context Array 0x23 URI Context String 0x24ExtDescriptors Fully Array 0x02 Qualified

The following Table 24 provides example external descriptor values:

TABLE 24 Example external descriptor values Element Notes Tag LengthValue Descriptors (parent) Start of 0xD5 23 5 — — Descriptors A 00 04 0002 Descriptor Start of Descriptor 0x15 — — Identifier 1 0x25 05 0x020x00 01 Stream Periodicity True 0x29 0A — — Type Temperature 0x25 060x02 0x00 05 Fields Start of Fields 0x36 0C — — Field Start of Field0x15 — — Valid True 0x29 0E — — Relative False 0x28 0F — — Signed True0x29 10 — — Size 15-bits 0x24 11 0x01 0x10 Count 1 0x24 13 0x01 0x01Exponent −1 0x20 18 0x01 0xFF Units Start of Units 0x35 14 — — System SI0x24 15 0x01 0x01 Description “° C.” 0x2C 09 0x03 0xC2 B0 43 Units Startof Units 0x36 14 — — Unit Start of Unit 0x35 16 — — Quantity Temperature0x24 17 0x01 0x05 End of Container End of Unit 0x18 — — End of ContainerEnd of Units 0x18 — — End of Container End of Units 0x18 — — End ofContainer End of Field 0x18 — — Field Start of Field 0x15 — — ValidFalse 0x28 0F — — Size 1-bit 0x24 12 0x01 0x01 Count 1 0x24 13 0x01 0x01End of Container End of Field 0x18 — — End of Container End of Fields0x18 — — Description “Temperature” 0x2C 09 0x0B 0x54 65 6D 70 65 72 6174 75 72 65 Time Base Start of Time Base 0x35 1F — — Reference Monotonic0x24 21 0x01 0x00 Exponent 0 0x20 18 0x01 0x00 SynchronizationUnsynchronized 0x24 22 0x01 0x02 End of Container End of Timer Base 0x18— — Time Period Start of Time 0x35 0B — — Period Exponent 0 0x20 18 0x010x00 End of Container End of Time 0x18 — — Period End of Container Endof Descriptor 0x18 — — End of Container End of 0x18 — — ExtDescriptors

The following Table 25 provides example values for imported descriptors.

TABLE 25 Example imported descriptors. Element Notes Tag Length ValueStreams Start of Streams 0xD5 23 5 — — A 00 04 00 01 Version 1 0x24 020x01 0x01 Resources Start of Descriptors 0x36 23 — — URI String 0x240x22 0x68 74 74. . . (http://tlvsite.com/ 32 34 0a tvd/235A/5/ a33d424)URI String 0x24 0x22 0x68 74 74. . . (http://tlvsite.com/ 33 32 0atvd/235A/5/ 3d42434)) End of End of Resources 0x18 — — Container RecordsStart of Records 0x36 1D — — Stream Start of Stream 0x35 1E — —Identifier 1 0x25 05 0x00 01 Time Period 10 0x24 0B 0x01 0x0A Time Base11 0x22 1F 0x04 0x00 00 00 0B Data 21.7° C., 22.2° C., 0x31 1E 0x0B 400x00 D9 00 . . . 23.3° C. DE . . . 00 E9 End of End of Stream 0x18 — —Container End of End of Records 0x18 — — Container End of End of Streams0x18 — — Container

The following Table 26 provides example values for inline descriptors.

TABLE 26 Example inline descriptors. Element Notes Tag Length ValueStreams Start of Streams 0xD5 23 5 — — A 00 04 00 01 Version 1 0x24 020x01 0x01 Descriptors Start of Descriptors 0x36 03 — — Descriptor Startof Descriptor 0x15 — — Identifier 1 0x25 05 0x02 0x00 01 Stream True0x29 0A — — Periodicity Type Temperature 0x25 06 0x02 0x00 05 FieldsStart of Fields 0x36 0C — — Field Start of Field 0x15 — — Valid True0x29 0E — — Relative False 0x28 0F — — Signed True 0x29 10 — — Size15-bits 0x24 11 0x01 0x10 Count 1 0x24 13 0x01 0x01 Exponent −1 0x20 180x01 0xFF Units Start of Units 0x35 14 — — System SI 0x24 15 0x01 0x01Description “° C.” 0x2C 09 0x03 0xC2 B0 43 Units Start of Units 0x36 14— — Unit Start of Unit 0x35 16 — — Quantity Temperature 0x24 17 0x010x05 End of End of Unit 0x18 — — Container End of End of Units 0x18 — —Container End of End of Units 0x18 — — Container End of End of Field0x18 — — Container Field Start of Field 0x15 — — Valid False 0x28 0F — —Size 1-bit 0x24 12 0x01 0x01 Count 1 0x24 13 0x01 0x01 End of End ofField 0x18 — — Container End of End of Fields 0x18 — — ContainerDescription “Temperature” 0x2C 09 0x0B 0x54 65 6D 70 65 72 61 74 75 7265 Time Base Start of Time Base 0x35 1F — — Reference Monotonic 0x24 210x01 0x00 Exponent 0 0x20 18 0x01 0x00 Synchron- Unsynchronized 0x24 220x01 0x02 ization End of End of Timer Base 0x18 — — Container TimePeriod Start of Time 0x35 0B — — Period Exponent 0 0x20 18 0x01 0x00 Endof End of Time Period 0x18 — — Container End of End of Descriptor 0x18 —— Container End of End of Descriptors 0x18 — — Container Records Startof Records 0x36 1D — — Stream Start of Stream 0x35 1E — — Identifier 10x25 05 0x00 01 Time Period 10 0x24 0B 0x01 0x0A Time Base 11 0x22 1F0x04 0x00 00 00 0B Data 21.7° C., 22.2° C., 0x31 1E 0x0B 40 0x00 D9 00 .. . 23.3° C. DE . . . 00 E9 End of End of Stream 0x18 — — Container Endof End of Records 0x18 — — Container End of End of Streams 0x18 — —Container Total Size — 86 20 5,797

Table 27 below provides example values for imported plus inlinedescriptors.

TABLE 27 Example imported plus inline descriptors. Element Notes TagLength Value Streams Start of Streams 0xD5 23 5 — — A 00 04 00 01Version 1 0x24 02 0x01 0x01 Resources Start of 0x36 23 — — DescriptorsURI String 0x24 0x22 0x68 74 74. . . (http://tlvsite. 32 34 0acom/tvd/235A/ 5/a33d424) URI String 0x24 0x22 0x68 74 74. . .(http://tlvsite. 33 32 0a com/tvd/235A/ 5/3d42434)) End of Container Endof Resources 0x18 — — Descriptors Start of 0x36 03 — — DescriptorsDescriptor Start of 0x15 — — Descriptor Identifier 1 0x25 05 0x02 0x0001 Stream True 0x29 0A — — Periodicity Type Temperature 0x25 06 0x020x00 05 Fields Start of Fields 0x36 0C — — Field Start of Field 0x15 — —Valid True 0x29 0E — — Relative False 0x28 0F — — Signed True 0x29 10 —— Size 15-bits 0x24 11 0x01 0x10 Count 1 0x24 13 0x01 0x01 Exponent −10x20 18 0x01 0xFF Units Start of Units 0x35 14 — — System SI 0x24 150x01 0x01 Description “° C.” 0x2C 09 0x03 0xC2 B0 43 Units Start ofUnits 0x36 14 — — Unit Start of Unit 0x35 16 — — Quantity Temperature0x24 17 0x01 0x05 End of End of Unit 0x18 — — Container End of ContainerEnd of Units 0x18 — — End of Container End of Units 0x18 — — End ofContainer End of Field 0x18 — — Field Start of Field 0x15 — — ValidFalse 0x28 0F — — Size 1-bit 0x24 12 0x01 0x01 Count 1 0x24 13 0x01 0x01End of Container End of Field 0x18 — — End of Container End of Fields0x18 — — Description “Temperature” 0x2C 09 0x0B 0x54 65 6D 70 65 72 6174 75 72 65 Time Base Start of Time 0x35 1F — — Base Reference Monotonic0x24 21 0x01 0x00 Exponent 0 0x20 18 0x01 0x00 SynchronizationUnsynchronized 0x24 22 0x01 0x02 End of Container End of Timer 0x18 — —Base Time Period Start of Time 0x35 0B — — Period Exponent 0 0x20 180x01 0x00 End of Container End of Time 0x18 — — Period End of ContainerEnd of 0x18 — — Descriptor End of Container End of 0x18 — — DescriptorsRecords Start of Records 0x36 1D — — Stream Start of Stream 0x35 1E — —Identifier 1 0x25 05 — 0x00 01 Time Period 10 0x24 0B 0x01 0x0A TimeBase 11 0x22 1F 0x04 0x00 00 00 0B Data 21.7 °C3, 22.2 0x31 1E 0x0B 400x00 D9 00 °C., . . . 23.3°C. DE . . . 00 E9 End of Container End ofStream 0x18 — — End of Container End of Records 0x18 — — End ofContainer End of Streams 0x18 — —

i. Descriptor Structure

The descriptor structure 1654 is a collection of data describing thedata contained within the associated record structure 1656 and may begenerally formatted as depicted below in FIG. 43. As previouslydiscussed, the device descriptor 1654 includes the identifier element1658. The identifier element is a caller-assigned 16-bit unsignedfixed-point value that is used to uniquely identify a particularsequence within the time-variant data exchange and to correlate adescriptor with its associated data in the stream.

The descriptor structure 1654 also includes a stream periodicity element1660 is a Boolean flag that is used to indicate whether the descriptorstructure 1654 and the associated data stream are periodic or aperiodic.When stream periodicity element 1660 is false, the stream is aperiodicand the data stream may be represented in tuples. The first element ofeach tuple, when specified, represents a relative or absolute time whenthe data sample(s) were taken. When stream periodicity element 1660 istrue, the stream is periodic and the data stream is interpreted asvalues sampled at precise and evenly spaced intervals in time. Thesampling period will be described by a period element within thedescriptor structure, discussed below.

The descriptor structure 1654 further includes a type element 1662. Thetype element 1662 is a caller-assigned 16-bit or 32-bit unsignedfixed-point value that represents the type of sample in a particulardata stream. The type element 1662 applies to any and all field elements1664 found in the descriptor structure 1654 unless explicitly overriddenby another type element 1662 contained within a field element 1664.

In some embodiments, values in the range 0-65 and 535 are reserved andselected for use from those listed below in Table 28.

TABLE 28 Types defined for data streams. Value(s) Description 0x0000None 0x0001 Length 0x0002 Mass 0x0003 Time 0x0004 Current 0x0005Temperature 0x0006 Luminous Intensity 0x0007 Area 0x0008 Volume 0x0009Velocity 0x000A Acceleration 0x000B Density 0x000C Current Density0x000D Magnetic Field Strength 0x000E Luminance 0x000F MassConcentration 0x0010 Molar Concentration 0x0011 Number Concentration0x0012 Volume Concentration 0x0013 Normality 0x0014 Molality 0x0015 MoleFraction 0x0016 Mole Ratio 0x0017 Mass Fraction 0x0018 Mass Ratio 0x0019Plane Angle 0x001A Solid Angle 0x001B Frequency 0x001C Force 0x001DPressure 0x001E Energy 0x001F Power 0x0020 Electric Charge 0x0021Electric Potential 0x0022 Capacitance 0x0023 Electric Resistance 0x0024Electric Conductance 0x0025 Magnetic Flux 0x0026 Magnetic Flux Density0x0028 Inductance 0x0029 Luminous Flux 0x002A Illuminance 0x002BRadioactivity 0x002C Depth 0x002D Height 0x002E Humidity 0x002F Distance0x0030 Opacity 0x0031 Attenuation 0xFFFE- Reserved for future use.0x0031 0xFFFF Other 0xFFFE FFFF- Reserved for vendor use. 0x0001 00000xFFFF FFFF- Reserved. 0xFFFF 0000In some embodiments, vendors may create their own values for thiselement in the 32-bit range by qualifying the name space with a vendoridentifier in the upper 16-bits and using any value in the lower16-bits.

The descriptor structure 1654 may also include a description element1666. The description element 1666 is a caller-assigned, human-readableUTF-8 string that may be used to describe a particular stream. Thedescription element 1666 may apply to any and all field elements 1664found in the descriptor structure 1654 unless explicitly overridden byanother description element contained within a field element 1664. Insome embodiments, the description element 1666 may be omitted from someinstances of the descriptor structure 1654.

As discussed above, the descriptor structure 1654 may also include aderivation element 1668, a time base element 1670, and a time periodelement 1672. The derivation element 1668 is a structure used toindicate that a mathematical operation was applied to the data stream toarrive at the exchanged data. FIG. 41 illustrates an embodiment of thederivation element 1668. The derivation element 1668 applies to anyfield elements 1664 found in the descriptor structure 1654 unlessexplicitly overridden by another derivation element 1668 containedwithin a field element 1664. The derivation element 1668 includes anoperations element 1674 is a array that contains one or more operationsub-elements 1676 describing mathematical operations or transformationsthat have been applied to the data samples in the corresponding streamstructure. The operation sub-element 1676 is a caller-assigned 16-bit or32-bit unsigned fixed-point value that represents a mathematicaloperation that was applied to achieve the sample derivation. Forexample, the operations may be indexed similarly to the valuesreproduced below in Table 29.

TABLE 29 Operations defined for data streams. Value(s) Description0x0000 None 0x0001 Minimum 0x0002 Maximum 0x0003 Mean 0x0004 Mode 0x0005Median 0x0006 Logarithm-Base 2 0x0007 Logarithm-Base e 0x0008Logarithm-Base 10 0x0009 Quadratic Mean 0xFFFE- Reserved for future0x000A use. 0xFFFF Other 0xFFFE FFFF- Reserved for vendor 0x0001 0000use. 0xFFFF FFFF- Reserved. 0xFFFF 0000In some embodiments, vendors may create their own values for thiselement in the 32-bit range by qualifying the name space with a vendoridentifier in the upper 16-bits and using any value in the lower16-bits.

The derivation element 1668 also includes an identifier element 1678.The identifier element 1658 is a caller-assigned 16-bit unsignedfixed-point value that is to correlate the derivation back to anotherbase descriptor structure 1654/stream. In some embodiments, theidentifier element 1678 may be omitted from the derivation element 1668and instead use the identifier element 1658 of the descriptor structure1654 of the derivation element 1668.

Returning to FIG. 40, the fields element 1664 is an array that containsor one or more field structures 1680 describing the format of the datasamples found in a corresponding stream structure. The field structure1680 is a structured collection of metadata describing a stride of thedata in an associated stream element and may be structured asillustrated in FIG. 42. Several of the fields describe how to computeboth the resolution of the sample data as well as a lineartransformation on each data sample to arrive at a physical value from alogical value. As discussed below, the fields used for thesecomputations may include an exponent field, a minimum field, a logicalmaximum field, a physical minimum, and a physical maximum, among otherfields. The resolution may be derived as shown in Equation 1 below:

$\begin{matrix}{{{Resolution} = {\frac{{{Logical}\mspace{14mu}{Maximum}} - {{Logical}\mspace{14mu}{Minimum}}}{{{Physical}\mspace{14mu}{Maximum}} - {{Physical}\mspace{14mu}{Minimum}}} \times 10^{Exponent}}},} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1} \right)\end{matrix}$The linear transformation may be applied as shown in Equation 2 below:

$\begin{matrix}{{{Physical}_{i} = {\left( {\frac{\begin{pmatrix}{\left( {{Logical}_{i} - {{Logical}\mspace{14mu}{Minimum}}} \right) \times} \\\left( {{{Physical}\mspace{14mu}{Maximum}} - {{Physical}\mspace{14mu}{Minimum}}} \right)\end{pmatrix}}{\left( {{{Logical}\mspace{14mu}{Maximum}} - {{Logical}\mspace{14mu}{Minimum}}} \right)} + {{Physical}\mspace{14mu}{Minimum}}} \right) \times 10^{Exponent}}},} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 2} \right)\end{matrix}$

The field structure 1680 may include a valid element 1682. The validelement 1682 is a Boolean flag used to indicate whether or not the fieldcontains alignment padding or valid data. When the valid element 1682 isfalse, the field contains padding and may be ignored, regardless ofvalue. When valid element 1682 is true, the field contains a valid datasample.

The field structure 1680 may include may also include a relative element1684. The relative element 1684 is a conditional Boolean value that maybe omitted when the valid element 1682 is false. When present, therelative element 1684 may be used to indicate whether or not the fieldcontains absolute or relative measurements.

When relative element 1684 is false, the field structure 1680 containsdata that is absolute and may be interpreted without consideration ofany prior samples. When the relative element 1684 is true, the fieldstructure 1680 contains data that is relative to be interpreted in thecontext of the samples that preceded it.

The field structure 1680 may also include a signed element 1686. Thesigned element 1686 is a conditional Boolean flag that may be omittedwhen the valid element 1682 is false. When present, the signed element1686 may be used to indicate whether or not the field contains unsignedor signed data. When the signed element 1686 is false, the fieldcontains unsigned data. When the signed element 1686 is true, the fieldcontains signed data. In some embodiments, the signed data may be two'scomplement data.

The field structure 1680 may include a size element 1688 and a countelement 1690. The size element is an 8-bit unsigned fixed-point valuethat indicates the size of a corresponding data value. In someembodiments, the size may be represented in bits or bytes. The countelement 1690 is a required 8-bit unsigned fixed-point value thatindicates the number of size elements 1688 for the field.

In some embodiments, the count element 1690 may be one. However, thecount element 1690 provides a means by which to represent tuple streams,such as a RGB tuple from a multi-color luminance sensor. In someembodiments, the size and count elements 1688 and 1690 may be specifiedsuch that individual fields achieve alignments of precisely 1 byte, 2bytes, or 4*k bytes, where k is a positive integer.

The field structure 1680 may also include an exponent element 1692. Theexponent element 1692 is an optional 8-bit signed or unsignedfixed-point value that represents the exponent applicable to the datasamples. In some embodiments, the exponent may be represented in base10. This element provides a way to scale data to preserve resolution orto avoid floating-point representation. Equations 1 and 2 abovedemonstrate how the exponent element 1692 may be used to transform eachdata sample. In some embodiments, an omitted exponent element 1692implies an exponent of 0 (e.g., 10⁰=1). For example, to communicate arange of values 0.0 to 150.0 with significance to the tenths, the valuescould be exchanged with the logical range 0 to 1500 with an exponentelement 1692 value of −1 (e.g., 10⁻¹= 1/10).

The field structure 1680 may also include a logical minimum element1694. The logical minimum element 1694 is a fixed-point value thatindicates the minimum expected, valid logical value for the field.Equations 1 and 2 above demonstrate how this value is used to transformeach data sample. When the logical minimum element 1694 is absent, theimplied value for this field is the minimum valid representation basedon the size and signed field elements 1686 and 1688. The field structure1680 may also include a similar a logical maximum element 1696 as afixed-point value that indicates the maximum expected, valid logicalvalue for the field. When the logical maximum element 1696 is absent,the implied value is the maximum valid representation for the fieldbased on the size and signed field elements 1686 and 1688. When one orboth of these values is present, data samples outside of the range areinvalid and should be ignored.

The field structure 1680 may also include a physical minimum element1698 and a physical maximum element 1700. The physical minimum element1698 is a fixed-point value that indicates the minimum expected andvalid physical value for the field. When the physical minimum element1698 is absent, the implied value field is the literal or implied valueof logical minimum element 1694. Equations 1 and 2 above demonstrate howthis value is used to transform each data sample. The physical maximumelement 1700 is a fixed-point value that indicates the maximum expectedand valid physical value for the field. Equations 1 and 2 abovedemonstrate how this value is used to transform each data sample. Whenthe physical maximum element 1700 is absent, the implied value is theliteral or implied value of logical maximum element 1696.

The field structure 1680 may also include a units element 1702, adescription element 1704, a type element 1706, and a derivation element1708. The units element 1702 is an advisory structured collection ofmetadata describing the units associated with the physical valuesrepresented by data samples and may be structured as illustrated in FIG.43.

The units element 1702 includes a system element 1710 that is an 8-bitunsigned fixed-point number that indicates the system of units in effectfor the enclosing units element 1702. In some embodiments, the systemelement 1710 may be selected from one of those values specified in Table30 below.

TABLE 30 Allowed values for the System tag in the Units structure. ValueDescription 0 None 1 System International 2 English 3-255 Reserved

The units element 1702 may also include a description element 1712 is acaller-assigned, human-readable UTF-8 string that may be used todescribe the specified units (e.g. “N” for kg*m/s²). The units element1702 may also include an exponent element 1714. In the context of theunits element 1702, the exponent element 1714 is an 8-bit signed orunsigned fixed-point value that represents the exponent applied to theoverall, composed Units. These correspond to common unit prefixes usedto indicate a decadic multiple or fraction of the units. For examplemillimeters would have an exponent value of −3 and hectometers wouldhave an exponent value of 2. When the exponent element 1714 is absent noprefix is applied to the units of measure. The units element 1702includes a units sub-element 1716. The units sub-element 1716, in thecontext of a parent units element 1702, is an array composed of one ormore unit structures 1718, as shown in FIG. 5 above. The unit structure1718 is a structure, that when composed with all other unit structures1718, describes the derived quantity the data stream represents. Eachunit structure 1718 may include a quantity element as a required 8-bitunsigned fixed-point value that represents the base unit in the system.In some embodiments, the quantity element 1720 may include a valueselected from the values listed in Table 31 below.

TABLE 31 Example values for the Quantity tag in the Unit structure.Value Quantity None SI English 0 None — — 1 Length — Meter Inch 2 Mass —Kilogram Slug 3 Time — Second Second 4 Electric Current — Ampere Ampere5 Temperature — Celsius Fahrenheit 6 Luminous Intensity — CandelaCandela 7 Amount — Mole Mole 8 Plane Angle — Radians Degrees 9 SolidAngle — Steradians Square Degrees 10 Reserved — . . . . . . — 255Reserved —Each unit structure 1718 may also include an exponent element 1722. Theexponent element 1722, in the context of the unit structure 1718, is an8-bit signed or unsigned fixed-point value that represents the exponentapplied to the associated quantity element 1720. In some embodiments, anomitted exponent element 1722 implies an exponent of 0 (e.g., 10⁰=1).For example 1/m² would have an exponent value of −2.

Returning to FIG. 42, when the description element 1704 overrides anypreviously encountered in the parent descriptor structure 1654. When thetype element 1706 is present, the type element 1706 overrides anypreviously encountered in the parent descriptor structure 1654.Similarly, in FIG. 41, when the operation element 1676 is present itoverrides any previously encountered in the parent descriptor structure1692.

The time period element 1672 of FIG. 43 is predicated on the assertionof the stream periodicity element 1660 and contains a single exponentelement 1724, as illustrated in FIG. 44. The actual period value itselfis contained within the stream element 1656, described in detail below.The exponent element 1724 within the time period element 1672 is an8-bit signed or unsigned fixed-point value indicating the base 10exponent of the time period. For example, an exponent element 1724 valueof −3 (10⁻³) may indicate that the time period is specified inmilliseconds.

The time base element 1670 of FIG. 40 within a descriptor structure 1654includes a reference element 1726, an exponent element 1728, and asynchronization element 1730. The reference element 1726 within the timebase element 1670 is an 8-bit unsigned fixed-point value indicating thereference of the time base. In some embodiments, the time base element1670 may be one of the non-reserved values specified in Table 32 below.

TABLE 32 Allowed values for the Time Base Reference element. ValueMnemonic Description 0 Monotonic The monotonically increasing time fromsome implementation-dependent epoch. 1 Real Time The current real-timetime of day clock. 2-255 — Reserved for future use.For the monotonic reference, the epoch is system- andimplementation-defined. The definition might, for example, be from asystem power-on or boot-up time. For the real time reference, the Epochis the POSIX or Unix Epoch of 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z, not counting leapseconds.

The exponent element 1728 within the time base element 1670 is an 8-bitsigned or unsigned fixed-point value indicating the base 10 exponent ofthe time reference offset. For example, an Exponent value of −3 (10⁻³)may indicate that the time base is specified in milliseconds from theReference epoch. In some embodiments, an omitted Exponent elementimplies an exponent of 0 (10⁰).

The synchronization element 1730 within the time base element 1670 is an8-bit unsigned fixed-point value indicating the synchronization state ofthe time base. In some embodiments, the synchronization element 1730 maybe one of the non-reserved values specified in Table 33 below.

TABLE 33 Allowed values for the Time Base Synchronization element. ValueMnemonic Description 0 Unknown The state is indeterminate or unknown. 1Synchronized The state is synchronized. 2 Unsynchronized The state isunsynchronized. 3-255 — Reserved for future use.

FIG. 46 illustrates an example of a structure of the stream element1656. As previously discussed, each stream element 1656 includes arespective identifier field 1658. Furthermore, each stream element 1656includes a time base element 1732, a time period element 1734, and dataelement 1736. In the context of a stream element 1656, the time baseelement 1732 is a signed or unsigned, fixed-point element present whenthe time base element 1670 is also present in the correspondingdescriptor element 1654. The value represents the offset, in themagnitude specified by the exponent element 1728 of the time baseelement 1732, 1671 from the reference element 1726 value.

Also, in the context of a stream element 1656, the time period element1734 is a signed or unsigned, fixed-point element present when the timeperiod element 1672 is also present in the corresponding descriptorelement 1654. In this context, the time period element 1734 is the datafor the metadata in the corresponding descriptor 1654. The valuerepresents the sampling period, in the magnitude specified by theexponent element 1728 of the time period element 1672 in the descriptorelement 1654, applicable to all the data samples.

The data element 1736 is a byte stream that represents the actual datasamples described by the corresponding descriptor element 1654. The datais interpreted with boundaries according to the Field Size and Countelements in the corresponding descriptor as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10below.

ii. Example Data Arrangements

FIG. 47 depicts a flexible data arrangement with three (3), valid 5-bitfields and one (1), 1-bit padding field, achieving two-byte alignment.FIG. 48 depicts a flexible data arrangement with one (1), valid 7-bitfield and one (1), 1-bit padding field, achieving one-byte alignment.

iii. Tags

Table 34 below summarizes a few possible tags used by this profile toformat data. Each tag is subsequently described in detail.

TABLE 34 TLV tags defined for this profile. Name Tag Type Element TypeValue Streams Fully- Structure 0x01 Qualified Version Context U8 0x02Descriptors Context Array 0x03 Descriptor Context Structure 0x04Identifier Context U16 0x05 Type Context U16/U32 0x06 Derivation ContextStructure 0x07 Operation Context U16/U32 0x08 Description Context UTF-8String 0x09 Stream Context Boolean 0x0A Periodicity Time Period ContextStructure/ 0x0B [SU] Fields Context Array 0x0C Field Context Structure0x0D Valid Context Boolean 0x0E Relative Context Boolean 0x0F SignedContext Boolean 0x10 Size Context U8 0x11 Count Context U8 0x12 UnitsContext Structure/ 0x13 Array System Context U8 0x14 Unit ContextStructure 0x15 Quantity Context U8 0x16 Exponent Context [SU]8 0x17Logical Context Fixed 0x18 Minimum Logical Context Fixed 0x19 MaximumPhysical Context Fixed 0x1A Minimum Physical Context Fixed 0x1B MaximumRecords Context Array 0x1C Stream Context Structure 0x1D Data ContextData 0x1E Time Base Context Structure/ 0x1F [SU] Reference Context U80x20 Synchronization Context U8 0x21 Operations Context Array 0x22

In some embodiments, in order to reduce RAM usage in RAM constraineddevices, an effectively read-only descriptor portion of a stream may becomposed at compile time and stored in read-only memory. Consequently,these implementations may use constants that can be specified andresolved at compile time and that are further amenable to macrossuitable for packing and arranging the data in byte arrays.

When the sample rate of observed data changes, various methods forhandling the changes may be employed. For example, the stream may bere-represented as an aperiodic stream. With the aperiodic option, thetimestamps in the stream may change at any appropriate frequency with anadded overhead of an absolute or relative timestamp for each datasample.

Additionally or alternatively, the stream may be submitted as n+1different periodic streams, for n sampling rate changes. With thisapproach, the time period metadata and/or data will be different foreach stream, corresponding to the sample rate change. These same optionsmay be employed when there is a gap in the stream. In other words, theportions of the streams around the gap may be treated as differentperiodic streams.

FIG. 49 illustrates a flowchart view of an embodiment of a process 1800for using the previously discussed time variant data profile. A smartdevice obtains data samples from one of its sensors (block 1802). Forexample, the device may obtain temperature samples from a temperaturesensor. In some embodiments, the data samples may be minimum or maximumvalues obtained by the sensor during a period of time. In otherembodiments, the data samples may have a mathematical operationperformed upon them by the smart device (block 1804). For example, thedata samples may be used in a transformative math operation to generatea mean, mode, median, or other operation for the data samples for aperiod of time within a whole period of time for the data samples. Insome embodiments, the mathematical operation may include an identityoperation that passes through values unchanged.

In certain embodiments, the smart device may also import someinformation from external resources in a first format. For example, thesmart device may obtain data samples from memory of a remote devicewhere the remote data samples are encoded in a specific format (e.g.,TLV, JSON, XML, etc.) In some embodiments, the smart device may convertthe remote data samples into a second format for use in a stream to besent to other devices. In other embodiments, the remote data samples maysimply be encoded in the first format in the stream. In furtherembodiments, the smart device may simply encode a location of a resourcefrom which to import the data samples.

The smart device then encapsulates the data samples in a time variantdata format previously discussed (block 1806). For example, the datasamples may be encoded in a stream structure within a general messagethat is tagged as using the time variant data profile. Furthermore, thestream structure may include a resource structure that providesidentification of external resources encoded and/or to be encoded in thestream structure. The stream structure may also include the descriptorstructure. As previously discussed, the descriptor structure includes anarray of data that has been imported into the stream and/or the datasamples from the sensor. Within the descriptor is a derivation structurethat includes various metadata about the data therein. For example, aspreviously discussed, in some embodiments, encapsulating the datasamples includes populating the derivation structure with informationabout a stride of the data samples, units for the data samples, exponentrelating to scale (e.g., milliseconds or seconds) of the units, a timeperiod of the data samples, indications of whether the data samples aremeasured in absolute time units or relative time units, and/or otherinformation about the data samples. After the data samples have beenencapsulated, the smart device may send to another device. (block 1808).For example, the smart device may send the encapsulated data samples toother devices in the network, a device outside the network via a networkgateway, and/or a remote service.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium havingstored thereon instructions for exchanging a data stream of informationthat varies over time using a message format, wherein the message formatcomprises: a version field that indicates a version of a structure ofthe message format; one or more resources fields that each identifies aresource to be imported into the data stream exchanging the data stream;one or more records that represent time-variant data samples beingexchanged in the message; one or more descriptor fields, wherein eachdescriptor field corresponds to at least one respective record of theone or more records and contains metadata describing data containedwithin the at least one record; and a description field having ahuman-readable string formatted in Universal Character Set andTransformation Format (UTF) to describe a time-variant stream from whichthe time-variant data samples are derived, wherein the description fieldis configured to enable later analysis of the exchange of the datastream.
 2. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1,wherein the UTF comprises Universal Character Set and TransformationFormat-8 bit (UTF-8).
 3. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium ofclaim 1, wherein each of the one or more resource fields comprises astring comprising a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that maps to aresource to be imported into the message, wherein each URI is a stringthat identifies a location of the resource to be imported.
 4. Thenon-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the URIrefers to a resource that is common between vendors or are publicdescriptors, and the URI comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) thatsets a Multi-Purpose Internet Extensions (MIME) type that is anindicator of encoding of the resource to be fetched for importing intothe data stream.
 5. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium ofclaim 3, wherein each of the one or more resource fields comprise asource indication that identifies a specific location within theresource from which imported data is to be derived, wherein the sourceindication comprises: an explicit indication that explicitly stateswhere the imported data is specifically located within the resource; oran implicit indication when an explicit indication is lacking, whereinthe implicit indication indicates that the specific location of theimported data is in a root location of the resource.
 6. Thenon-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein theinstructions are configured to cause a processor to import multipleresources into a single destination by concatenating data from themultiple resources into a destination indicated by the destinationfield, wherein an order of the concatenated data corresponds to an orderof the multiple resources in the message.
 7. An electronic devicecomprising: a processor; and a memory comprising instructions forcausing the processor to exchange a data stream of information thatvaries over time using a message format, wherein the message formatcomprises: a version field that indicates a version of a structure ofthe message format; one or more resources fields that each identifies aresource to be imported into the data stream exchanging the data stream;one or more records that represent time-variant data samples beingexchanged in the message; and one or more descriptor fields, whereineach descriptor field corresponds to at least one respective record ofthe one or more records and contains metadata describing data containedwithin the at least one record; and a description field having ahuman-readable string formatted in Universal Character Set andTransformation Format (UTF) to describe a time-variant stream from whichthe time-variant data samples are derived, wherein the description fieldis configured to enable later analysis of the exchange of the datastream.
 8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the descriptorfield comprises a 16-bit unsigned fixed-point value identifier thatmatches a corresponding identifier in a corresponding record to indicatethat the descriptor field describes data found in the record isdescribed by the metadata in the descriptor field.
 9. The electronicdevice of claim 7, wherein the resource indicated in a location externalto the electronic device, the data in the external resource is formattedin tag-length-value (TLV) format, a profile tag for the descriptor fieldmay be context-specific by using a top level profile tag to indicate thedescriptor field refers to an exterior resource by tagging thedescriptor field with a 0x02 value in an ExtDescriptors tag.
 10. Theelectronic device of claim 7, wherein descriptor field includes a streamperiodicity indicator that indicates whether data in the stream isperiodic or aperiodic using a flag, wherein when the flag is positive,indicates that the stream is periodic, and when the flag is negative,indicates that the stream is aperiodic having irregular intervals oftime between samples in the stream.
 11. The electronic device of claim7, wherein the descriptor field comprises a type element that is acaller-assigned 16-bit or 32-bit unsigned fixed-point value thatrepresents a type of data present in the stream, wherein the typeelement applies to field elements found in the descriptor field unlessexplicitly overridden by another type element contained in a respectivefield element of the descriptor.
 12. The electronic device of claim 11,wherein the type comprises length, mass, time, current, temperature,luminous intensity, area, volume, velocity, acceleration, density,magnetic field strength, luminance, molar concentration, numberconcentration, molality, frequency, force, pressure, energy, power,electric charge, capacitance, electrical resistance, magnetic flux,electrical resistance, radioactivity, depth, height, or humidity. 13.The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the type element comprises: afirst portion of the type element that indicates a vendor identifier fora vendor of the resource containing data to be imported; and a secondportion of the type element that indicates a type of data specific todata points derived from a device having a specific vendor identifier.14. A method for conveying time-variant data, comprising: transmitting,using a network interface, data to exchange a data stream of informationthat varies over time using a message format, wherein the message formatcomprises: a version field that indicates a version of a structure ofthe message format; one or more resources fields that each identifies aresource to be imported into the data stream exchanging the data stream;one or more records that represent time-variant data samples beingexchanged in the message; one or more descriptor fields, wherein eachdescriptor field corresponds to at least one respective record of theone or more records and contains metadata describing data containedwithin the at least one record; and a description field having ahuman-readable string formatted in Universal Character Set andTransformation Format (UTF) to describe a time-variant stream from whichthe time-variant data samples are derived, wherein the description fieldis configured to enable later analysis of the exchange of the datastream.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the descriptor elementcomprises a field element that describes the format of one or more datasamples found in the message, wherein the field element comprises: avalid element that is a Boolean flag used to indicate whether the fieldcontains alignment padding or valid data; a relative element that is aconditional Boolean flag that is used to indicate whether the samplesare measured absolutely or relative to each other; a signed element thatindicates whether the data samples are signed or unsigned values; one ormore size elements that are each an 8-bit unsigned fixed-point valuethat indicates a size of corresponding data sample; and a count elementis an 8-bit unsigned fixed-point value that indicates a number of sizeelements for the field element.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein thefield element comprises: an exponent element that is an 8-bit value usedto indicate an exponent of the data to preserve resolution while scalingthe data samples; and a units element that includes metadata describingunits of measure represented by the data samples; one or more overridingelements configured to override, for the field element, metadatareferring to the one or more records, wherein the one or more overridingelements comprise a data type or a description for the data samples. 17.The method of claim 15, wherein the units element comprises: a systemelement that is an 8-bit unsigned fixed-point number that indicates asystem of units in effect for the units element; and a descriptionelement that is a caller-assigned, human-readable Uniform Character Setand Transform Format 8 bit (UTF-8) string that may be used to describethe specified units.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the fieldelement comprises: a logical minimum field that indicates a minimumexpected, valid logical value for a corresponding data sample based onthe signed and size elements; and a logical maximum field that indicatesa minimum expected, valid logical value for a corresponding data samplebased on the signed and size elements.
 19. The method of claim 14,wherein the descriptor element comprises a time base element thatindicates time base information about the stream comprising: a referenceelement that is an 8-bit unsigned fixed-point value indicating whetherthe clock is real time or incremental; an exponent element that is an8-bit fixed-point value indicating a base ten exponent of units of timeused to track the data samples; a synchronization element that is an8-bit unsigned fixed-point value indicating whether the time base issynchronized, unsynchronized, or unknown.
 20. The method of claim 14,wherein the descriptor element comprises a time period element thatindicates intervals between data samples of the data stream of when thedata stream is indicated as periodic, wherein the time period elementcomprises an exponent element that is an 8-bit fixed-point valueindicating a base ten exponent of the interval in relation to seconds asa base unit.